"Have I killed someone?"
Two boy racers have been jailed for a total of 28 years for killing a 16-year-old girl.
Alisha Goup was on her way to Oldham Sixth Form College in Greater Manchester when she was hit by Omar Choudhury’s BMW.
Choudhury was being chased by another BMW driven by Hamidur Rahman, a member of his extended family, whom he had “beef” with.
Prosecutors said Rahman blamed Choudhury for informing his family about his relationship with a woman, which her family “disapproved” of.
The pair met by chance on February 23, 2023, and things soon turned violent.
Rahman brandished a baseball bat before Choudhury set off “like a rocket”, with Rahman in pursuit.
Witnesses thought the men were “racing”, with one man saying they were “going to kill someone driving like that”.
Choudhury was doing 66mph in a 30mph zone shortly before he mounted the pavement in Rochdale Road, Oldham, in February 2023.
He was trying to overtake a car on the wrong side of the road, before clipping another vehicle and losing control.
Rahman turned off the road six seconds before the crash, but prosecutors said he was just as guilty as Choudhury as he made a “significant contribution” to how Choudhury drove.
Alisha was pronounced dead at the scene.
Speaking to an officer, Choudhury said: “I was driving down the road and I was going too fast because I was trying to get away because these men were chasing me with a knife and now someone has punched me.”
After his arrest, he asked: “Have I killed someone?”
Rahman has previous convictions for handling stolen goods and dangerous driving when he was a teenager while Choudhury has no previous convictions.
In a letter to the court, Rahman said:
“I feel total pain and heartache over the incident and the fact I played a part in it.
“I pray her parents and siblings can find peace and can forgive me for the wrongs to them. I can’t imagine the pain they feel – I am so sorry.”
Paying tribute to their daughter, Alisha’s parents said in a statement:
“We would like to thank the police for their thorough investigation, this has been the most difficult time of our life, knowing Omar Choudhury has killed our daughter and that he has been trying to defend the indefensible.
“Alisha was our firstborn and was the happiest moment of our life, which was the same day we got the keys to our first house, it was a double celebration.
“She was everything to us and was the reason we woke up every day and went to work to give us all a better life.”
“We are a small, quiet, very private family, we did everything together as a family – every Friday was a takeaway and movie night, every Saturday was an eating out night and every Sunday was a walking day out.
“Weekday evenings we always walked to do our shopping, we goofed around, laughed, joked, talked about life goals, told stories of the day and argued during those shopping trips.
“Alisha was the most caring, selfless, sensible person you could meet.
“She was the glue that kept all the children together, she was always there for her parents and her siblings.
“The dreadful news of Alisha being killed, not crossing the road but whilst walking on the pavement is hard to take as we always ensured the children all knew about road safety from a young age, little did we know none of that would matter as she was killed in a place you are supposed to be safe, the pavement.
“How are we ever supposed to let our other children walk on the pavement, we don’t let them walk to school very often, we are always worried when they leave for school now.
“Our whole world fell apart. We all cried. A part of us died that day too and we all would give anything to have our Alisha back.”
CCTV footage showed the two boy racers overtaking cars on St Mary’s Way and Chadderton Way before heading along Rochdale Road, where Rahman turned off onto Coldhurst Street.
After hitting Alisha, Choudhury – who had previously recorded himself speeding at 150mph on a motorway – continued to drive through traffic lights and away from the scene, eventually coming to a stop outside Royal Oldham Hospital.
He was detained by members of the public until officers arrived.
Rahman was arrested a few days later.
The pair both admitted driving dangerously but denied causing Alisha’s death.
Despite trying to blame each other, they were found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.
Rahman and Choudhury each received 14-year prison sentences. They were both banned from driving for 12 years.
After sentencing, Alisha’s father Bijur Goup said:
“We’re not happy with the sentence – Choudhury should have got life.
“There’s not been an ounce of remorse about killing a child who was a vulnerable pedestrian.”
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