Family of Bradford mum Iram Shahzadi speak of tragic loss

Iram Shahzadi, known as Rubi, was walking a short distance to collect her five-year-old daughter from Lapage Primary School in Barkerend Road when her life was taken in the most unimaginable of circumstances.

Jamie Taylor tested positive for cocaine after he ploughed into Mrs Shahzadi, who lived on Hinchcliffe Street in the Bradford Moor area of the city, on the afternoon of May 10 last year.

He banged into a parked vehicle and was speeding off when he hit the 39-year-old on the pavement, throwing her six feet into the air.

Taylor, 42, of Hendford Drive, Pollard Park, Bradford, pleaded guilty to causing the death of Mrs Shahzadi by dangerous driving at the junction of Beech Terrace and Hinchliffe Street.

Last week, he was jailed for seven-and-a-half years, plus 18 months to run consecutively for an unrelated unlawful wounding offence, making nine years in all.

Aisha Saeed, Mrs Shazadi’s sister-in-law, spoke to the Telegraph & Argus and said her family’s Islamic faith had given them the strength to forgive Taylor.

"It’s been 13 months and our family is completely broken. It’s really hard to say this, we as a family, we forgive him.

Floral tributes left at the scene in the aftermath of Mrs Shahzadi's death

“We just hope that time he’s got inside, he can reflect on what he’s done and what he’s taken away from us and hope he can make something of his life and turn his life around and not do this ever again.”

She spoke of how Bradford is affected by reckless driving and added: “When you get behind a vehicle, you should make sure that you’re safe enough to drive and you can keep your passengers safe and you’re not under the influence.

“It can result in death, in the change of a second, people’s lives can change. It doesn’t just affect immediate family - it affects the full community.”

In court, she urged the judge to consider the heart-wrenching, long-lasting and far-reaching consequences of Taylor’s actions.

Miss Saeed does not believe her brother will ever come to terms with his loss.

He saw the commotion from a window of his house but did not know it was because his wife of 20 years had been hit.

Bradford Crown Court heard how Mrs Shahzadi was on the pavement when she was hit by Taylor, who was at the wheel of a silver Citroen C1.

A Parcelforce driver described seeing the car ‘swinging about’ and going ‘extremely fast’ downhill before the tragic impact.

Taylor staggered away from the vehicle making ‘no attempt whatsoever to check on the lady lying on the ground,’ prosecutor Chloe Fairley said.

Mrs Shahzadi was unconscious with head injuries. An ambulance and the air ambulance attended at the scene but paramedics were unable to save her.

A teenage boy said he saw a speeding car with the engine roaring hit her.

People came to help and used CPR until the emergency services arrived, but Mrs Shahzadi was tragically pronounced dead at the scene, the court was told.

Miss Saeed sent her heartfelt thanks to those who provided CCTV footage and witness statements, and those who were with her sister-in-law as she took her last breath.

“I could not be there,” she said. “But they were.”

She also thanked family liaison officer DCI Sophie Barritt.

Speaking about Mrs Shahzadi, Miss Saeed said she was a dialysis patient who was waiting for a kidney transplant and juggled mum life with medical appointments.

She said: “She was such a humble and quiet person, she kept herself to herself.

“Whenever I needed neutral advice, she was my go-to person.”

She was originally from Pakistan and Miss Saeed said she integrated well into the community and had lots of friends.

When sentencing Taylor, Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC, told him: “By your actions you have cut short the life of a decent woman and mother.

“You have deprived five children of a mother for the rest of their lives, left the children’s father widowed and caused untold grief to other close members of her family.”