Speeding driver was double the limit when he killed Glasgow student

Glasgow Times

4 days ago

Akbar Razaq was going at double the 30mph limit in his Audi A4 near Glasgow city centre on the night of February 2 2023.
The 30-year-old hit another car before mounting the pavement and hitting a traffic light pole.
Chinenye Okonkwo was waiting to cross the road but ended up being crushed between railings and the front of the Audi.
The 33 year-old - studying Public Health at the city's Caledonian University - sadly never survived.
Razaq was today sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow having earlier admitted to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving.
Lord Mulholland jailed him for three years and four months. He was also banned from the road for a total of eight years and two months.
(Image: Chinenye Okonkwo)
Nigerian-born Chinenye had moved to the UK in 2022 to study in Glasgow.
Members of her grieving family were once again able to watch and listen to the hearing today from their home country.
Chinenya also had a part-time job at a nursing home in the city's East End.
She was walking on way to start a shift there when tragedy struck.
Moments before the collision, the student stopped to await a gap in the traffic to cross.
Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC then explained: "Chinenye Okonkwo was standing on the pavement at the crossroads of Newton Street and St Vincent Street in Glasgow when she was struck by the speeding Audi A4 driven by Razaq.
"The Audi had already been struck by a Ford Fiesta as it began to make a right turn into St Vincent Street from the left-hand lane at Newton Street."
The court heard how Razaq had initially blasted his horn at the Fiesta driver to try and avoid a crash.
But, the Audi was hit before going onto the pavement and smacking into the traffic light post.
Chinenye was then struck by both the motor and pole causing her to be pinned between the railings and the car.
Razaq got out to "remonstrate" with the other driver.
It was only then that a passenger in his car spotted Chinenye under the Audi.
Razaq, of the city's Kinning Park, moved the Audi and a 999 call was made.
The court heard Chinenye received "extensive advanced life support" at the scene, but did not recover.
Crash investigators concluded the collision was caused by "negligence on the part of both drivers".
But, Mr Prentice added: "Despite different degrees of responsibility, it is also their opinion that the blame for the death is attributed to the driver of the Audi due to his dangerous manner of driving at excessive speed.
"This resulted in him being unable to avoid a collision.
"Had he driven within permitted speed limits, it is unlikely the collision would have occurred."
The investigators added the Ford driver had not performed "final safety checks" before carrying out the turn.
However, it was said she "could not reasonably expect" the Audi to have been approaching her "at such excessive speed".
The indictment stated he was going at 60mph in the 30mph zone.
The Fiesta driver had also initially been charged, but she no longer faces prosecution.
John Scullion KC, defending, said: "He bitterly regrets his involvement in the death.
"He is an individual who has also been greatly affected and will be left with this for the rest of his life."
(Image: Chinenye Okonkwo)
Lord Mulholland said Chinenye was a woman with a "great future" and that no sentence would compensate for the loss her family had suffered.
The judge told Razaq: "It is a tragedy this happened and it did not need to happen.
"If you have been driving at a safe speed, it would not have happened."
He cut the jail-term from four and a half years due to the guilty plea.
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Her brother Henry previously spoke to the Glasgow Times.
In a tribute, he said: "She was a very good person. She is very family oriented and very intelligent. She was the one who initiated the family WhatsApp group. She created it, she's the admin person.
'She's the only sister we have amongst a family of six children.'