Khalid Mahmood admitted causing Almena Amica’s death after mistaking the accelerator for the brake
Emergency services at the scene of a bus crash at the City Tower building close to Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens Metrolink stop(Image: PA)
A bus driver who killed a pedestrian in a crash in Piccadilly Gardens has been given a suspended sentence.
Khalid Mahmood had been pulling away from a stop in a single decker bus when he lost control of the vehicle, hitting several pedestrians before smashing into the front of T4 bubble tea shop.
Almena Amica, 77, was rushed to hospital where she tragically died of her injuries. Another 11 people including pedestrians and bus passengers were also injured in the horror crash on October 16, 2023.
Mahmood, 66, initially maintained that the crash had been the result of the bus being defective, but specialist analysis revealed that the bus was roadworthy.
A judge said the crash had been caused by Mahmood mistaking the brake for the accelerator.
Mahmood, of Chadwick Road, Eccles, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving in March. At his sentencing hearing today (May 16), his barrister, Rachel White, described him as “haunted” by what had happened.
‘Her future has been taken away’
Ms Amica, from South Manchester, was known as Mena to her family and friends. Her sister Christine Amica described the depth of the family’s loss.
“It is impossible to put into words the impact the death of my sister has had on me, to translate feelings into words, to convey the sense of the absence of Mena into words,” she said.
“Mena was my last living sibling, we had so many plans together, but her future has been taken away from her, and our shared plans have been taken from me.
Almena Amica, 77, who died in the Piccadilly Gardens bus crash(Image: GMP)
“The first anniversary of our brother’s death took place just over two months after Mena’s death and without her for support, I mourned two siblings instead of one, alone.”
Christine told how she had been meeting a friend at the Portico Library, just minutes away from Piccadilly Gardens, when the crash happened.
She recalled how she had texted her sister, who she knew was in town, to warn her about the crash oblivious to the fact it was her sister who had been hurt.
“When I received the call from police, I could not understand how it was Mena who had been involved in the incident,” she said.
The bus ploughed into the front of the T4 bubble tea shop
“All I wanted to do was to go in and see and speak to my sister. I wanted to let her know that I was with her.”
Christine described how she had been celebrating her recovery from cancer and looking forward to the future, but never got to share the good news with her sister.
She added: “I regularly have to pass through the area where I am subjected to facing where Mena was killed, forced to relive that very day.”
Crash caused by ‘pedal confusion’
Judge Suzanne Goddard KC found that the fatal crash had been caused by “pedal confusion”, where a driver believes they are pressing the brake when they are in fact pressing the accelerator.
This led to the bus surging forward, causing chaos in just 4.5 seconds between it moving off and the moment it collided with the café.
A scan in hospital found that Ms Amica had suffered serious injuries including a severe brain haemorrhage and cracked ribs.
Fiona Clancy, prosecuting, told the court: “The damage was too catastrophic to benefit from any surgical intervention.”
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Ms White, defending, said: “The loss of her is something that her family will endure forever.”
Ms White told the court that Mahmood had worked as a bus driver for 40 years and had previously been given an award for safe driving, adding that he had not driven at all since the crash.
Police carried out roadside tests on Mahmood after the crash which confirmed he had no alcohol or drugs in his system.
Mahmood had no previous convictions. The court heard that he had been diagnosed with PTSD since the crash, which he frequently relived, and that he had expressed a wish to apologise in person to Ms Amica’s family.
‘You will have to live with the devastation you caused’
Judge Goddard KC had previously told Mahmood that a custodial sentence was “almost inevitable”.
However, in the hearing at Manchester Crown Court on May 16 she gave Mahmood a two year prison sentence suspended for two years, taking account of his low risk of reoffending and “genuine remorse”.
Mahmood’s family sobbed in court as Judge Goddard KC confirmed his sentence would be suspended.
The judge told Mahmood: “You will have to live with the devastation your actions have caused for the rest of your life.”
She added: “This was a short period of dangerous driving, this is not a case where you were affected by drink or drugs. This was a case of pedal confusion.”
In addition to the suspended prison sentence, Mahmood was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, was banned from driving for five years, and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £1,000.