Alisha Goup: Drivers guilty of killing girl, 16, in crash

Two men have been found guilty of causing the death of a teenage girl who was hit by a car in Greater Manchester.

Alisha Goup, from Royton, was struck by the car, which mounted the pavement following a crash with another vehicle in Oldham in February.

The 16-year-old sixth form student died at the scene.

Omar Choudhury, 22, of Royton, and Hamidur Rahman, 24, of Oldham, have been convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.

Jurors at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard that at about 13:30 on 23 February Rahman and Choudhury were driving in convoy at speed along Rochdale Road before Choudhury struck Alisha, who was walking to Oldham Sixth Form College.

Just earlier, there was an altercation between the two men on Chadderton Way.

The court heard that Rahman got out of a BMW 1 series, which he was not insured to drive, and ran towards Choudhury's BMW 3 series with a baseball bat in his hand.

Choudhury reversed along Chadderton Way on the wrong side of the road towards oncoming traffic and at one point mounted the kerb of a pedestrian island, where a pedestrian was standing.

Rahman pursued him at speed onto Rochdale Road before turning right onto Coldhurst Street just before Choudhury, who was driving at speed on the wrong side of the road, collided with a white Ford Fiesta.

This caused his BMW to mount the pavement and hit Alisha as she walked along the footpath.

Members of the public tried to assist Alisha and detained Choudhury at the scene until police arrived.

In police interviews Rahman denied the manner of his driving was responsible for causing the death of Alisha, as he had turned off into a side road beforehand.

Choudhury accepted he was driving dangerously and had struck Alisha but claimed it was under duress as he was being chased by Rahman.

During the trial the court heard Choudhury had a history of dangerous driving and was involved in a police pursuit in December 2022.

Anthony Stanway, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Hamidur Rahman and Omar Choudhury's manner of driving was selfish and reckless.

"They put many lives at risk that day with the worst possible outcome, the death of a young girl who had her whole life ahead of her.

"Neither man took responsibility for their actions, putting Alisha's family through the further trauma of a trial. Nothing can bring Alisha back, but I hope this conviction goes some way to comfort her family at this difficult time."

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