Dangerous driving trial: Witnesses recall horror crash

Alisha Goup, from Royton who was in the first year of her A-level studies at Oldham Sixth Form College, was killed instantly after being hit by a BMW that mounted the pavement on Rochdale Road in February.

Omar Choudhury and Hamidur Rahman have been charged with causing death by dangerous driving in relation to the incident and are on trial at Manchester Minshull Street Court. Both men deny the charges against them.

Opening the case for the prosecution on the first day of the trial, Henry Blackshaw told the court that Alisha died after being hit by a BMW 3 series coupe being driven by Choudhury at 66mph in a 30mph zone.

Jurors were told that Rahman had been “chasing” the 21-year-old in a second BMW shortly before the fatal crash.

On the second day of the trial on Tuesday, the jury heard several read statements from drivers who witnessed the incident.

The first statement was that of Jason Stevens, a motorist who was driving down Rochdale Road on the day of the crash.

In his statement, Mr Stevens said he saw two cars that "appeared to be racing", adding that their speed was so high he expected to see a police car pursuing them.

The court then heard a statement by Jessica Morgan who was also driving down Rochdale Road that day.

She said she was overtaken by a BMW, driving “significantly faster” than she was. She said the BMW then crashed into the driver's side of a white Ford Fiesta and "bounced" off before mounting the pavement.

Ms Morgan then said she saw a “female” who “went flying", adding that it looked like she was "thrown backwards".

Mr Blackshaw previously told the jury that the crash involving Alisha occurred after Choudhury clipped a white Ford Fiesta within a stationary line of traffic he was overtaking.

He said Choudhury’s BMW deflected sideways before "losing control and mounting the pavement", where Alisha was walking.

Choudhury’s car hit the pavement at "tremendous force", Mr Blackshaw said, causing Alisha to suffer unsurvivable head injuries.

The jury then heard from the driver of the white Ford Fiesta, Stacy Leighton who was in the car with her partner when Choudhury crashed into them.

In her statement Ms Leighton said she had begun to turn right off Rochdale Road onto Crompton Street when she heard a "bang”, and her car began "sliding".

She said she then saw a BMW "bouncing down the pavement" and that her partner got out of their car and shouted: "Someone has died call an ambulance.”

The jury was then read the statement of Connor Tickle who attended the scene of the crash.

In his statement, Mr Tickle said that he found a girl at the scene, after seeing her legs next to a tree, who was "not crying or making any noise".

He said he then saw two men “handling” another man and heard someone shout, "Is that the driver?" The man being handled was then taken to the girl and someone said: "Look at what you've done. This is your fault."

The jury then heard a statement from Police Constable Mellor who said that when he arrived at the scene, he saw a body covered with a blanket surrounded by around 30 people.

PC Mellor said he then shouted, "Who's the driver?" and Choudhury stepped forward and gave him his details.

Choudhury then told him: "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.”

The jury heard Choudhury later told police in an interview on February 25, that he had been “threatened” by Rahman who had a weapon, and that he had driven the way he did to “get away” from the 23-year-old.

He also said he could not recall the crash and only remembered waking up in hospital with police officers.

Mr Blackshaw previously told the jury that Choudhury, of Broadway, Royton, and Rahman, of Tilbury Street, Oldham, fell out two months prior to the crash after having a dispute over a girl.

In his police interview, the court heard that Rahman admitted that he had threatened Choudhury but said he only wanted to scare him and not hurt him.

He then said that he saw Choudhury was “driving really fast” and stopped following him and drove back to work.

Rahman said he did not know about the crash until he saw it on the news and social media later that day and that initially he did not know Choudhury was involved.

The trial continues.