UberEats driver was ‘showing off’ in car when he killed student, 21, in crash

An UberEats driver who hit and killed a 21-year-old student while ‘showing off’ and ‘drifting’ his car has been jailed.

Saleh Mahmoud Taha Hassan previously admitted responsibility for the death of Natasha Thorp, who was struck by a Toyota Corolla while walking through Sutton Coldfield with her best friend last August.

Nearly 1,000 people attended Natasha’s funeral, and hundreds of tributes and flowers were left for her at Gracechurch Shopping center.

Her family said she was ‘one-in-a-million’, adding: ‘To know Natasha was to know a life filled with love, laughter, and joy.

‘It was a privilege to know her as a part of our family or as a friend.’

Her friend Cerys Cartwright was seriously hurt in the incident.

Hassan wrote a letter to Nicola’s parents, which was read out in court at sentencing.

It read: ‘Not a single day passes that I don’t think about the life lost and suffering I have brought on so many innocent people.’

Judge Kershaw pointed out that one of the 20-year-old’s friends was filming him driving, saying: ‘You were recording it to be boastful.’

He continued: ‘There is no other way I can see this can be described in a way other than showing off.

‘There is nothing that can be described as driving that was successful. It was simply stupid.’

The judge added: ‘The reason for this crash was you making a conscious decision to slide and skid the wheels of that car.’

At a court hearing earlier this year, Hassan pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, causing death by driving while uninsured as well as causing serious injury to another person by dangerous driving.

Judge Kershaw dismissed immaturity as a factor at Hassan’s sentencing, saying he is an ‘intelligent man’ who achieved high A-level results.

At Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, he was was jailed for nine years and four months as well as banned from driving for 12 years and eight months.

Hassan had only passed his driving test two months before the incident and was not insured to drive – though he had made Uber Eats deliveries earlier that evening.

Judge Kershaw said: ‘It was an irresponsible, reckless and deliberate piece of driving that took away the life of Natasha Thorp and seriously hurt Cerys, and damaged her.

‘It has damaged many others in different ways, that includes others away from her family and in your family also.

‘Natasha was a loved young woman who had all of her life in front of her. That was shown by almost 1,000 people turning up to celebrate her life at her funeral.’

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