Mum, 26, crashed car and killed passenger while high on nitrous oxide

Jan 10, 2024

A powerful VW Golf GTI driven by Nasrin Saleh flipped over and as engulfed in flames.

A young woman motorist, ‘euphoric’ after inhaling nitrous oxide canisters, crashed a high powered car after travelling at 103 mph, tragically killing her passenger.

The powerful VW Golf GTI driven by Nasrin Saleh struck a brick wall surrounding a large roundabout, flipped over and was engulfed in flames.

A brave taxi driver and another man managed to drag injured Saleh out of the wreckage but the cabbie was beaten back by flames while trying to rescue the front seat passenger Luqman Mehboob, who died as a result of his injuries.

Saleh, 26, a single mum of a six-year-old boy was on Monday jailed for four and a half years after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving. She was also banned from driving for six years and three months.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that she admitted at the scene that they had been "doing balloons" and taking turns to drive the car, despite neither being insured. A mutual friend, who had earlier been in the car, told how Saleh was "having loads" of canisters, approximately two to three boxes which each contained 15 canisters.

Judge David Aubrey, KC, told the defendant, of Colville Street, Wavertree, Liverpool, "The court has no doubt you as the driver and Mr Mehboob, as the front seat passenger, were in a state of euphoria having taken nitrous oxide. It was the adrenaline of the moment, driving a powerful vehicle that you were unfamiliar with at grossly excessive speeds.

Some 470 metres from the roundabout the car was travelling at 103 mph, some 80 metres if still travelling at that speed the stopping distance would have been 252 metres. It was inevitable that driving at those speeds, even with braking, that the car would collide with the wall of the roundabout."

The judge pointed out that nitrous oxide can cause euphoria, confusion, disorientation, loss of co-ordination and even hallucinations.

"I am satisfied that your consumption at the very least caused euphoria and must have had an intoxicating effect upon you notwithstanding the effect is transient. It is something the court cannot ignore and finds that it is a serious aggravating factor."

The court heard a moving impact statement from the victim's devastated mum, Fahmida Kauser, about the loss of her only child and Judge Aubrey described the 28-year-old university graduate "a special person to so many and a good friend to others."

"He had his whole life in front of him and with 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 told Saleh, who at times dabbed at her eyes, "He was a charming, caring young man and so many lives including his family, your family and you will never be the same. There remains emptiness, a massive hole in his family's hearts.

"They are broken and continue to grieve as do you and your family. Families have been destroyed and the impact is endless for your whole community."

Arthur Gibson, prosecuting, told the court, crowded with relatives and friends of both the victim and Saleh, that the tragedy occurred at about 4.45 am on October 10, 2021 on East Prescot Road near Alder Hey Hospital in the city.

The road has a 40 mph speed limit and analysis of CCTV footage from a house 470 metres from the roundabout showed the car was travelling at 103 mph as it passed by.

Mr Gibson said there was a "substantial" roundabout with vegetation and mature trees boarded by a brick wall and in front of that was a small lip separated from the road surface.

The VW Golf made a slight move to the left but struck the wall and the front end of the vehicle lifted into the air and it rolled onto its side and then the roof and ten seconds later burst into flames.

A dog walker nearby heard the crash followed by what he thought were gunshots but were actually the remaining nitrous oxide canisters exploding in the fire.

Taxi driver Russell Cooper arrived and ran to the car with a fire extinguisher and assisted by another, managed to pull the defendant out. He carried her to some nearby grass and she told him, ‘we swapped, we were doing balloons, me baby, me friend, is he still in there?"

Mr Cooper returned to the blazing vehicle and managed to reach and get hold of Mr Mehboob's arm but he was unresponsive and the intensity of the fire and thick black smoke forced Mr Cooper to retreat.

Saleh, who had suffered a fracture to her lower left leg and ankle, was taken to hospital where she was detained for two weeks and she needed aids to walk for nine months.

A post mortem revealed that Mr Mehboob suffered catastrophic head and internal injuries resulting in immediate loss of consciousness and ultimately death.

Mr Gibson told how earlier that evening Saleh and two friends had gone out eating and drinking in the Rusholme area of Manchester. Her friends returned to Liverpool but Saleh decided to stay and met a friend Shujata Begum, who was with his sister, and the trio stayed in a bar until 2 am.

Saleh and Mr Begum visited a local convenience store and Mr Mehboob drew up in the VW Golf which he had borrowed from his cousin. There had earlier apparently been some communication between Saleh and Mr Mehboob and Mr Begum said there was clearly an attraction between the couple.

Mr Mehboob drove them around Manchester chatting and listening to music before setting off to take them home to Liverpool. Before they dropped him off Mr Begum saw them using the canisters, said Mr Gibson.

In her impact statement the victim's mother told how he selflessly always helped others and always seemed to be in some sort of rush "almost as if he knew his time in this world would be shorter than expected."

She said, "His presence brought many smiles and his words were always listened to. He left everyone he met smiling and in awe."

He also organised charity car washing and was the life and soul of family events. "He did not know when he offered that lift that the last thing he did would lead to his death."

Defence barrister Fusad Arshad said that Saleh, who has no previous convictions, is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder as a result of the tragedy.

He said she accepts, "It was her actions and her actions alone which resulted in the death of Mr Mehboob."

"There is real sorrow and remorse and there is a sincere feeling of guilt. She has written a heartfelt letter to the court with no element of self-pity.

"She is struggling to come to terms with her conduct. She continues to suffer flashbacks of the collision and recurring nightmares and she wakes in a state of anxiety."

Mr Arshad said that she "will carry for the rest of her life a heavy burden of guilt."

Judge Aubrey praised taxi driver Mr Cooper for his bravery in saving one life and trying to save another with no concern for his own safety and he awarded him a High Sheriff's award of £250.

A powerful VW Golf GTI driven by Nasrin Saleh flipped over and as engulfed in flames.

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