Jail for killer 4×4 driver

A ‘show-off’ Range Rover driver who killed his passenger after he crashed through a Tesla dealership at 110mph and ended up on a railway track was jailed for seven and a half years.

Beautician Yagmur Ozden, 33, died after she was thrown from Rida Kazem’s £80,000 vehicle in the horrific smash on the A40 in west London on August 22 last year.

Kazem, 23, admitted causing the death of Ms Ozden and causing serious injury by dangerous driving to her close friend Zamarod Arif, 26, who suffered a broken leg and arm.

Jewellery store manager Kazem was driving the Range Rover Sport SVR, when it collided with a stationary Tesla and some of the vehicle ended up on the tracks at Park Royal Tube station.

He was also seriously injured during the crash and was rushed to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington where he was put in an induced coma.

Yagmur Ozden

Bearded Kazem has since had his leg amputated and appeared at Isleworth Crown Court today (Weds) wearing a white t-shirt and black trousers, using crutches.

He has previous speeding convictions, including a recent one for driving at 95mph in a 50mph zone in May 2020.

Ms Ozden and Ms Arif had earlier visited a nightclub in west London before travelling by minicab to the nearby Wish Lounge.

They had arranged for Kazem to give them a lift home.

Kazem arrived in his Range Rover and parked outside at around 3.45am.

Ms Ozden travelled in the middle passenger seat with Ms Arif, the only occupant to fasten her seat belt, to her left.

Nicholas Hearn, prosecuting, said Kazem drove along Coronation Road, across two roundabouts before taking a slip road that leads to the westbound carriage way on the A40.

‘Whilst travelling along the westbound carriageway the defendant travelled at excessive speed, there was no traffic ahead of him, the road conditions were dry, the lighting conditions good and there were no other obstacles on that road.’

He accelerated away at speeds of up to 110mph but underestimated the bend in the road, hitting the kerb and rolled over and flew towards the car dealership.

Kazem smashed into a stationary Tesla, with the driver inside, while the Range Rover flipped over a wall and finally come to rest on the tracks.

‘As the vehicle rolled through the car park Ms Ozden was ejected from the Range Rover and her body landed a few metres in front of where the Range Rover lay to rest,’ said Mr Hearn.

Ms Arif, remained in the front seat of the Range Rover trapped inside and suffered multiple broken bones including the ‘snapping’ of her femur and both forearms.

Kazem was taken to hospital, where his leg was later amputated, and he refused to give a blood sample to police, the court heard.

A post-mortem examination revealed mother-of-one Ms Ozden died from multiple traumatic injuries and blunt force trauma.

Ms Ozden’s 13-year-old daughter said in a statement read to the court: ‘I blame the driver for taking my mum away. Even if he got a life sentence or twenty years it will not change anything.

‘I want him to have a long time in prison, so this does not happen to anyone else.’

Ms Arif detailed her ‘anxiety’ after receiving abusive messages since the crash’ with ‘lots of negative comments blaming [her] for what had happened.’

Zamerod Arif

In her statement she said she was forced to give up playing volleyball which she played competitively for a leading London team, due to the injuries to her left hand.

David Rhodes, defending, told the court: ‘This case represents a human tragedy for all who have been affected by it.

‘All the families concerned …. will leave the court today filled with a sense of loss and pain and suffering.

‘I hope that the court can see there is a human story here he doesn’t have any memory of events, his last memory is of coming home from holiday from Turkey with his girlfriend and the next thing he knows is he is waking up in hospital.

‘He knows he has taken a life in Yagmur Ozden and left a young girl without a mother, and he knows he very nearly killed himself.

‘Having spoken to him what I’ve seen of him there is no attempt to shift the blame on to anyone else or escape the fact he was the driver.

Yagmur Ozden and Zamerod Arif

‘He seeks to make no excuses for the very dangerous manner of his driving that night.’

Judge Martin Edmunds jailed Kazem for seven years and six months and disqualified him from driving for 12 years.

The judge said: ‘The speed and violence of this unfolding crash was simply horrific, and the Range Rover was reduced to a mangled heap of metal.

‘The weather was dry and there was no traffic. That does not excuse your accelerating to about 110mph. I have no doubt you were showing off to your passengers, both showing of your powerful car but also what you thought of as your superior driving skills.

‘There are 1609 metres in a UK mile. A speed of 110mph means that you have covered some 49 metres per second.

‘At the heart of our considerations must be the loss of the Ms Ozden and serious injury of Ms Arif and the consequences of all who love them.’

Kazem smiled and acknowledged his family as he left the dock.