Anayat Ur-Rehman pleaded guilty to causing the death of mum-of-two, Abigail Hudson, by dangerous driving on the A456 Hagley Causeway in October 2024.
The 26-year-old, of Holcombe Road in Birmingham, also admitted causing serious injury by driving dangerously to Abigail’s youngest daughter, Ava Doddridge, who is now 11.
Appearing today at Worcester Crown Court (September 12), His Honour, Judge Cartwright sentenced Ur-Rehman to eight years and eight months in prison.
The court heard that at the time of the crash, Abigail was driving her two daughters and her husband, Ryan Hudson, to an open day at King Edward VI College in Stourbridge.
Ur-Rehman and three passengers in his car had been travelling from Kidderminster to Birmingham.
By attempting to perform a manoeuvre that Judge Cartwright called “highly dangerous”, Ur-Rehman caused a five-car collision which saw one vehicle end up airborne, flip over the grass central reservation of the dual carriageway and collide with Abigail’s vehicle that was travelling in the opposite direction.
In an emotional victim impact statement he read out loud in court, Mr Hudson said the family’s “entire world shattered” after the “avoidable” crash.
He said: “Since that day, our future, the one we had built together and looked forward to, has been stolen from us.
“I find myself reliving the incident over and over again, unable to escape the trauma of that night.”
He continued: “The hardest part of all is knowing everything Abbi will miss.
“She won’t see Ava or Isobel grow up. She won’t be there for their proms, their graduations, or to see them fall in love.
“She won’t be there on their wedding days or to hold her grandchildren.
“She won’t be there to celebrate another anniversary with me or grow old with me as we had always planned.
“Every single one of those moments that should have been filled with joy will instead be marked with sadness because Abbi won’t be there.”
Read more
Teacher’s friends await sentencing of killer driver
The court heard how Ava suffered “catastrophic injuries” in the crash, including a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain.
She faces more operations in the future, a lifetime of taking medication, and “permanent” facial injuries that her dad said will “forever serve as a daily reminder of what happened”.
Abigail’s eldest daughter, Isobel Doddridge, Ava’s sister, wrote a personal impact statement that was read out in court, in which she said her mum was her “best friend”.
She wrote: “October 19th of last year was meant to be the day when I got to look around my possible future college.
“It was supposed to be a new and exciting step for me to take with my family by my side.
“But it wasn’t. And I was completely wrong.
“All because of some irresponsible person who clearly does not know how to drive safely.
“I may have escaped the crash with minor physical injuries, but that didn’t mean I was okay at all.”
The 16-year-old also said: “I was sitting in the backseat with my sister.
“Witnessing her fighting for her life and the sound of her struggling to breathe will never escape my mind.”
Statements were also read out from close friends of Abigail, Kelly and Ben Parish, who were travelling in convoy and witnessed the horror ordeal, as well as Liane Ralley.
Ms Ralley said: “Abbi was an amazing person, I love her, my children love her, we miss her, and we are angry that she lost her life due to the arrogant, selfish, stupidity of someone driving with no regard for other road users, speed limits or the law.”
Abigail, who was a popular teacher at Perryfields Primary School in Oldbury, was declared dead at the scene of the crash.
Defending Timothy Raggatt KC said that Ur-Rehman fully accepted responsibility for his actions and “would do anything in his power to put it right”.
He called Ur-Rehman’s driving “a moment of madness” and highlighted how, since the crash, he lost his career as a radiographer and “withdrew” from society socially.
Due to pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity, Judge Cartwright reduced Ur-Rehman’s sentence by a third.
He was jailed for eight years and eight months for causing Abigail’s death and was sentenced to three years for seriously injuring Ava, which will be served concurrently with the first sentence.
He was also disqualified from driving for five years, extended by a further four years and four months, and cannot get behind the wheel until he has passed an extended driving test.
Ur-Rehman will serve half of his custodial sentence in prison and the other half on licence.