The driver of a van who killed Aalia Mahomed, a King’s student, and seriously injured two others on Strand in March last year has been sentenced to 8 years in prison.
Christopher Jackson, 27, was today sentenced at the Old Bailey. He pleaded guilty in an earlier hearing on 2 February to causing death and serious injury by driving.
On 18 March last year, Aalia Mahomed, 20, was killed and two other King’s students were seriously injured when Jackson accelerated his vehicle towards the pedestrianised area of Strand from the west courtyard of Bush House.
Jackson then struck an iron gate, which was knocked it off its hinges, injuring two students. His vehicle then mounted the flowerbeds and struck Aalia, who was sitting on a bench facing away from Bush House at the time. She died at the scene.
Aalia’s mother, Samira Mohamed, told the court before sentencing: “‘I’ll always be incredibly proud to have been blessed with the most amazing daughter… this man brought her bright future to an end.”
In sentencing the judge told Jackson “any careful and competent driver will satisfy themselves that they can drive their car safely before they can set off… this was not just a ‘tragic accident’”.
‘Mixed-up pedals’
On the day of the crash, Christopher Jackson, of Walton Road, Southampton, had taken the train to London to drive one of two Ford E-Transit vans to Southampton.
After entering the front van in the West Courtyard of Bush House, Jackson spent some time familiarising himself with its contents, said prosecutor Fiona Robertson. Jackson had never driven any electric vehicle before the day of the collision.
He was meant to follow a colleague and reverse out of the courtyard but instead accelerated; the judge accepted that Jackson believed he was in reverse rather than drive.
After driving forward, forensic investigators found that he continued to “pump” the accelerator for six seconds, said to be in the mistaken belief it was the brake pedal.
CCTV footage shown to the court showed Jackson’s van accelerating rapidly and swerving out of the way of a another van before striking the cast-iron gate.
Jessica Clark, defending, said that in swerving, “He took what he thought was evasive action to the course that, we all know, was in fact not”.
On striking the gate it flew of its hinges, hitting and trapping a female student, 28, who was taking a phone call outside the gate at the time, and hitting a male student, 24, who was walking to Bush House.
His vehicle then continued rapidly towards the bench where Aalia was sitting with her friend, became airborne, and struck her, leaving her “catastrophically injured”.
Her friend later told officers that “in the blink of an eye, the van [had] come through Aalia’s side of the bench”, projecting her forward. The van came to a stop shortly after in front of St Mary-le-Strand.
Aalia tragically died at the scene. The two other students both suffered “severe and life-changing” injuries, according to police; one has since confirmed to Roar that they are recovering.
Jackson immediately exited the vehicle and called his brother, who later told police that he was clearly in a distressed state. Jackson told a police officer at the scene, “One mistake and that’s the end of everything.”
‘So giving and full of life’
Aalia studied Physics and Philosophy BSc at King’s and was in her second year at the time of her death.
In her victim impact statement, Aalia’s mother told the court that “not a single second has passed without me feeling an unbearable void she has left behind” and that she was “here today to speak for the life of my daughter who was stolen due to the actions of this man”.
She said that Aalia was “a child that was so giving and full of life” who “was a social butterfly and academically gifted” that “worked incredibly hard”.
Aalia planned to visit Japan to see the cherry blossoms with her brother, Zain, before the crash, “a moment they never got to have”, her mother said.
Her mother talked about how she was still struggling to come to terms with what had happened, saying: “Whilst we all accept that Aalia’s gone, the mental trauma will remain forever”.
In a statement after the hearing, she said:
“When you lose a child, you don’t just lose a presence of someone in your life, you lose a part of yourself. Our beautiful Aalia had her whole life ahead of her, cut so short at the age of 20 with no warning and no goodbyes. I have also lost all the hopes and dreams I had to give Aalia the best opportunities in life.
“…The sentencing is an important step in the process, certainly in terms of accountability, but the process has been a distraction from facing the grief of losing Aalia and we hope the result today can allow us to now do so.
“However we must also endure an inquest and through that process we will continue to look for answers to understand how this tragic event occurred and to ensure lessons are learned.
“In the meantime, we express our deepest thanks to everyone who has shown love and support through the most difficult time of our lives including the families who have lost loved ones as a result of a similar tragedy, our hearts go out to them as they await justice and closure.”
‘This was not a sudden decision’
Jackson works for his brother and at the time was employed by a graphic design company. He has three children and no previous history of driving offences.
The defence asked the judge to consider that Jackson is “an ordinary man, a good father, a worker … who, had it not been for this awful, six second mistake, would’ve driven that to Southampton per his instructions and gone home to his family”.
In the hearing, Judge Philip Katz KC sentenced him to eight years for the first count of causing death by dangerous driving and three years for each of the two other counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He said that “nothing a judge can do or say will lessen the grief of any parent who loses a child or young person who’s bright future has suddenly become uncertain”.
The judge acknowledged that Jackson had never driven an electric vehicle, and that such vehicles accelerate significant more rapidly than non-electric vehicles, which may have been a factor in the crash.
Whilst he accepted Jackson’s remorse as genuine, he said that “in my judgement, any careful and competent driver will satisfy themselves that they can drive their car safely before they can set off.”
“…this was not a sudden decision and there was plenty of opportunity for you to consider the serious and obvious risks you were taking…. You gave no thoughts to those risks or your misplaced competence caused you to ignore them.”
All terms will be served concurrently and he will be released on licence after having served two thirds of his term. Jackson was also disqualified from driving for ten years and four months and must do a retest before driving again.
Jackson was initially arrested at the scene on suspicion of drug driving. That has since been dropped – the prosecution stated that a later blood test showed this to be a false positive.
‘Complex’ investigation
In a statement, Detective Chief Superintendent Donna Smith, from the Metropolitan Police Service, said:
“It is almost a year to the day since this terrible incident took place. It should never have happened, and Aalia should still be with us today, surrounded by those who loved her.
“Our thoughts, as always, remain with Aalia’s family and friends. Their strength over the past year has been extraordinary. We cannot begin to imagine the immeasurable suffering they have been through since last March.
“We would also like to share our thoughts with the two other victims, whose lives have been forever changed. They continue to show remarkable courage, and we know their lives will never be the same.”
Professor Shitij Kapur, Vice-Chancellor of King’s College London, said:
“Aalia Mahomed will be remembered for her bright spirit and curiosity, which are honoured by the plaque and cherry blossom planted in her memory on the Strand. We continue to hold in our thoughts her family, friends, and everyone in our King’s community who has been affected by her loss, as well as the two students who were injured during this tragic incident last March”.
All of us at Roar extend our sincere condolences to Aalia’s family and to everyone affected by her passing and wish the best for the two other students affected.
Reporting from the Old Bailey: Kaveh Kordestani for Roar
This article was updated at 5.50pm on 6 March 2025 to add statements from Aalia’s family and King’s College London.
Kaveh Kordestani is a staff writer for Roar
