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A man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for hitting and killing a little girl with his van while high on cocaine and driving recklessly around Manchester.
Rawal Rehman, 36, was sentenced at Manchester crown court after pleading guilty to death by dangerous driving last month for the crash that led to the death of three-year-old Louisa Palmisano on 22 February.
During his guilty plea, the court heard that Rehman had consumed “at least 20 lines of cocaine” in the span of seven hours before visiting two brothels on the morning of the incident and driving his van around Manchester, hitting Louisa shortly after 10am.
Louisa had travelled into Manchester with her parents from their home in Burnley for a day out when she was struck by Rehman’s van in Manchester city centre. Her parents, who were also hit but survived, attended the sentencing.
In CCTV footage of the incident played to the courtroom, Rehman’s Mercedes Sprinter van can be seen trying to cross a road ahead of an oncoming tram before being struck by the tram and veering into Louisa and her parents.
A separate angle showed Rehman exiting his van after the crash, looking at Louisa lying underneath it, and walking away.
Handing out the sentence, Judge Conrad KC gave Rehman credit for his guilty plea and for showing remorse, but said his behaviour was still inexcusable and had “caused suffering that a sentence couldn’t make up for”.
The court heard that Louisa was taken to hospital immediately after the crash in a critical condition but that doctors could not save her, and she died with her parents by her side later that day.
The prosecution told the court that Rehman, who was arrested at an address in Blackburn on 24 February, initially told police that he was coming back from a social occasion and had lost control of the van.
A later analysis of the van found several faults that meant it was not roadworthy, but none of them would have stopped Rehman from decelerating or otherwise preventing the crash.
In a statement read out by prosecutor Rachel Shenton, Louisa’s mother and father described their daughter, who they nicknamed Lulu, as a “thoughtful, generous, kind-hearted girl” who “brought warmth and joy to those around her”.
“Lulu was our only child and remains the heart of our family. She lit up every room and her absence leaves a silence that we cannot fill.
“We never imagined that such profound loss and sorrow could be brought about so quickly, and yet we continue to live in the aftermath of those few seconds – trying to rebuild, to cope, and to make sense of a world that no longer feels the same.
“Her life, though short, will never be forgotten and she will always be part of us.”
Representing the defendant, David Toal said that Rehman’s guilty plea and admittance to details in the investigation showed his remorse. He said Rehman fled the scene out of shock and did not realise anyone had died until seeing it later on social media.
Toal also said Rehman had intended to hand himself into the police prior to his arrest two days after the accident took place.
In a short statement read by Toal, Rehman apologised to the family and said he “hopes that they can accept that an apology made, even if rejected, is better than no apology at all”.
