A young mum who killed her passenger after consuming 'laughing gas' and driving at excessive speed has been jailed. Nasrin Saleh had consumed nitrous oxide and reached speeds of up to 103mph before crashing into a roundabout.
The 26-year-old previously pleaded guilty to causing the death of Luqman Mehboob, 28, by dangerous driving on October 10, 2021, and was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court today.
The court heard Saleh had been on a night out with two friends in Manchester but had stayed in the city with pal Shujata Begum while others returned to Liverpool around 1.45am.
Saleh and Mr Begum later met Mr Mehboob, who was driving his cousin's Volkswagen Golf GTI, and the trio drove around Manchester city centre as they listened to music, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Mr Begum said: "There was no cause for concern from me in relation to his driving. He didn’t appear to have been speeding or being under the influence of alcohol. He presented as sober".
But on the journey back to Liverpool, Mr Begum realised that both Saleh and Mr Mehboob were consuming nitrous oxide canisters. He later told police that Saleh "was having loads of these, approximately two to three boxes which each contained 15 canisters".
Around 4.15pm, Mr Begum was dropped off on Upper Stanhope Street and watched as Mr Mehboob drove the Volkswagen away from the city centre. At some point after this, Saleh switched places and started to drive the car back to the city centre.
Around 30 minutes after Mr Begum was dropped off, a witness was driving along East Prescot Road and said the Volkswagen overtook him at a speed estimated to be above 80mph in a 40mph zone.
He watched the car continue at high speeds along the road and crash into a roundabout - lifting into the air before rolling onto its roof and bursting into flames.
A dog walker described hearing an "an almighty noise of a collision" followed by loud bangs when the remaining nitrous oxide canisters exploding in the fire.
Police investigating the incident discovered CCTV footage showing the vehicle driving at 103mph while it was 470m away from the roundabout. Different footage showed the car braking around 80m away but the 103mph speed would have required a 252m stopping distance.
Taxi driver Russell Cooper stopped and ran towards the car with a fire extinguisher as he dragged Saleh away from the wreckage. While Mr Cooper was carrying Saleh away to safety, she said: "We swapped, we were doing balloons, me baby, me friend, is he still in there".
The taxi driver returned to the fire and tried to reach Mr Mehboob but he was unresponsive. Mr Cooper was forced to step back due to the strength of the fire and smoke.
Emergency crews soon descended on the scene but Mr Mehboob could not be saved and his body was recovered after the fire was extinguished. A post-mortem examination found that he suffered catastrophic head and internal injuries which meant he lost consciousness immediately, ultimately resulting in his death.
Saleh was taken by ambulance to hospital and suffered a fracture to her lower left leg and ankle. Neither Saleh or Mr Mehboob were insured to drive the Volkswagen.
In a blood sample taken from Saleh, a slight trace of alcohol was discovered but it is not possible to test for nitrous oxide consumption.
The author of the toxicology report noted the substance can cause euphoria, sedation, confusion and disorientation, dizziness, loss of coordination and hallucinations, with intoxication lasting typically between 30 seconds and two minutes.
Prosecutor Arthur Gibson read a statement to the court from Mr Mehboob's mother. About the day of the crash, she said: "Our nightmare began. The nightmare we never woke up from".
She described her son as "the life and soul of all of our family events" She said he had a "caring and supporting nature" and was a "pillar of the community".
She said: "Every day we are searching for normality" and added: "I break down completely, pleading for him to come back".
In mitigation, Fuad Arshad said Saleh "fully accepted that it was her actions and her actions alone that resulted in the death of Mr Mehboob." He added his client acknowledged that she drove at excessive speed and that her driving "caused a substantial risk of danger to other road users".
He pointed to his client's lack of previous convictions and the fact she is a mother to a six-year-old boy. He said she had shown "real sorrow and remorse" and had a "sincere feeling of guilt".
He added Saleh is "struggling to come to terms with her conduct" and suffers flashbacks to the crash, which often occur in nightmares. She has also developed post-traumatic stress disorder.
Mr Arshad described Saleh as a "broken person carrying now, for the rest of her life, a heavy burden of guilt".
Sentencing, Judge David Aubrey KC said: "Luqman Mehboob was such a special person to so many and a good friend of yours. He had his whole life in front of him and many a dream as to his future.
"All that came to an abrupt end in the early hours of that Sunday morning while members of his closely-knit family are anxiously making phone calls seeking to ascertain his whereabouts."
He added: "There remains emptiness - a massive hole in his family's hearts."
The judge told Saleh "Mr Mehboob died in the most terrible circumstances", adding: "you chose to drive a powerful car at grossly excessive speeds in a state of euphoria having taken nitrous oxide."
He added: "Your consumption at the very least caused euphoria and must have had an intoxicating effect on you". The judge concluded that Saleh's driving was "without doubt, in my judgement, impaired by nitrous oxide".
Saleh was jailed for four and a half years.
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