Two boy racers who used the Oldham roads as a racetrack have been jailed for 14 years each after killing Alisha Goup
Omar Choudhury aged 22 of Broadway, Royton and Hamidur Rahman aged 24 of Tilbury Street, Oldham have been found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving at Minshull Street Crown Court both receiving sentences of 14 years, serving two-thirds of that in custody.
Sixteen year old Alisha lost her life as she walked to Oldham Sixth Form College where she was a student
Heading towards Oldham Town Centre along Rochdale Road, the tragic incident happened outside of the Coldhurst Community Park near to the junction of the Royal Oldham Hospital, which is busy main road with footpaths, bus stops, zebra crossing and residential and business properties.
Despite the best attempts of emergency services, Alisha was sadly pronounced deceased at the scene a short time later after the car, a BMW 3 series with the distinctive registration OM08 ARR, mounted the pavement and collided with her as she walked along the footpath, this was after hitting a white Ford Fiesta turning at the junction and losing control as he attempted to overtake on the wrong side of the road.
Evidential CCTV footage used by officers showed both Choudhury and Rahman racing through the streets of Oldham and overtaking cars on St Mary’s Way and Chadderton Way before heading along Rochdale Road where Rahman turned off onto Coldhurst Street. Rahman was also driving a BMW – a 1 series with the registration H21 MDR and wasn’t insured to drive this vehicle.
This was from an earlier threatening confrontation in public with a weapon believed to be a baseball bat before the fatal collision occurred, resulting in Choudhury reversing on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic, mounting a pedestrian island before driving on the wrong side of the carriageway.
These erratic actions and excessive speed culminated in the road traffic collision involving Alisha.
Despite the collision and damage caused, Choudhury continued to drive through the traffic lights and away from the scene. Due to the damage sustained to his vehicle he could not continue and came to a stop outside Royal Oldham Hospital. Members of the public tried to assist, as they did with Alisha, and detained Choudhury at the scene until officers arrived.
When speaking to an officer shortly after, Choudhury said; “I was driving down the road and I was going too fast because I was trying to get away because these men were chasing me with a knife and now someone has punched me.”
Later replying after his arrest and treatment; “Have I killed someone?”
GMP forensic reconstruction examiners were able to determine Choudhury was travelling over double the speed limit (66mph) only meters before the collision.
A few days later on Friday 24 February 2023, following extensive enquiries, Rahman was arrested in connection with the incident. A jury also found him guilty due to his significant involvement as his actions contributed towards Alisha losing her life in extremely distressing circumstances.
Further evidence recovered from Choudhury’s phone showed clips of him brazenly showing off by driving at high speeds on regular occasions, highlighting his casual disregard for the safety of others.
On remembering their daughter, the parents of Alisha in their victim personal statements said; “Firstly, we would like to start by thanking the police for their thorough investigation, this has been the most difficult time of our life, knowing Omar Choudhury has killed our daughter and that he has been trying to defend the indefensible.
“Alisha was our first born and was the happiest moment of our life, which was the same day we got the keys to our first house, it was a double celebration. She was everything to us and was the reason we woke up everyday and went to work to give us all a better life.
“We are a small, quiet, very private family, we did everything together as a family every Friday was a takeaway and movie night, every Saturday was an eating out night and every Sunday was a walking day out. Weekday evenings we always walked to do our shopping, we goofed around, laughed, joked, talked about life goals, told stories of the day and argued during those shopping trips.
“Alisha was the most caring, selfless, sensible person you could meet. She was the glue that kept all the children together, she was always there for her parents and her siblings.
“The dreadful news of Alisha being killed, not crossing the road but whilst walking on the pavement is hard to take as we always ensured the children all knew about road safety from a young age, little did we know none of that would matter as she was killed in a place you are supposed to be safe, the pavement. How are we ever supposed to let our other children walk on the pavement, we don’t let them walk to school very often, we are always worried when they leave for school now.
“Our whole world fell apart. We all cried. A part of us died that day too and we all would give anything to have our Alisha back.”
After the sentencing result, Police Sergeant Louise Warhurst, from GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit said; “On a day where our colleagues were actively fighting crime in Oldham due to Operation AVRO taking place, our road policing officers received the worst news and responded to this tragic incident.
“Alisha was walking along the footpath where she should have been safe. Tragically, Omar Choudhury and Hamidur Rahman were treating the public highway as their personal race track with no regard whatsoever for all other members of the public using the roads in Oldham that day. Both these men drove dangerously at astonishing speeds because of a petty disagreement. They have demonstrated their arrogance by denying their responsibility throughout, each blaming the other, neither willing to accept responsibility for causing Alisha’s death. Thankfully, they were both found guilty.
“I would like to thank all the members of the public that came forward and assisted the police with our investigation. I would like to thank the family, friends and loved ones of Alisha, you have conducted yourself with dignity throughout this trial and our thoughts as a force remain with you all. We hope this investigation provides some form of closure through the justice served.
“I’d also like to remind those who think they can ignore the speed limit to think twice before using their car at high speeds. Your actions can devastate innocent members of the public in a split second and no one deserves to lose a loved one the way the family and friends of Alisha have done.
“Dangerous drivers will not be tolerated in our communities. Greater Manchester Police will deal with them robustly to keep people safe form illegal and irresponsible drivers.”
