Speeding driver found guilty in his absence of killing jogger

Rashid Ali was going twice the 20mph speed limit when his Range Rover Sport hit Jack Ryan.

Mr Ryan was struck and thrown into the air before landing on the front of the Range Rover on Battersea Bridge (Alamy/PA)

A speeding driver who jumped a traffic light and hit a jogger has been found guilty in his absence of causing death by dangerous driving.

Rashid Ali was going twice the 20mph speed limit when his Range Rover Sport struck marketing executive Jack Patrick Ryan near Battersea Bridge in west London.

Mr Ryan, 29, suffered catastrophic injuries and died at the scene.

Ali, 30, had failed to attend his Old Bailey trial and jurors were told by Judge Judy Khan not to speculate on his absence.

I feel very ashamed of myself and have assassinated my own character

Rashid Ali in an email read to the court

On Friday, Ali, of Beresford Road, Slough, was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

It can now be reported that Ali had been given extra time to travel from Pakistan to give evidence in his trial but did not to board a flight.

In the absence of the jury, barrister James Scobie KC read out an email in which the defendant relayed his “great stress” and “anxiety” and apologised to “everyone he had let down”.

Ali wrote: “I feel very ashamed of myself and have assassinated my own character”, and vowed to return to Britain to face any prison sentence.

CCTV footage of the collision showed Mr Ryan was struck and thrown into the air before landing on the front of the Range Rover on Battersea Bridge on the evening of January 13 2021.

The surface of the road had been wet and the defendant had been travelled at speeds of between 39mph and 41mph in the 20mph zone, prosecutor Philip Stott said.

He had plenty of time to stop safely, and he was therefore obliged to do so by the rules of the road

Prosecutor Philip Stott

When Ali’s vehicle was about 50 metres away from the traffic lights they had changed from green to amber, which would have given him time to stop, jurors heard.

Following the collision, the defendant claimed Mr Ryan had run across the road in front of his car, leaving him no time to apply the brakes, the court heard.

However, Mr Stott said that the Highway Code clearly stated that an amber light required a driver to stop at the stop line.

A driver could only continue if the amber light appeared after the vehicle had crossed the stop line or if pulling up might cause an accident.

Mr Stott said: “There was no other vehicle travelling so close behind Mr Ali’s car that it might cause an accident if he were to stop at the amber light in the normal way.

“He had plenty of time to stop safely, and he was therefore obliged to do so by the rules of the road.”

“Instead, the defendant broke those rules, and in doing so, caused the death of Mr Ryan.”

Ali will be sentenced on September 13.