A speeding driverhas been found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving and serious injury at the Old Bailey where telematics data provided vital evidence in support of the police investigation.

Farid Reza, who killed a 21-year-old woman in Kingston, south west London, was sentenced to 5 years and 3 months in prison in what the judge described as a mindless act which resulted in the death of a young student.

Reza was also found guilty of causing Serious Injury after 5 children who were travelling in his car were injured.

Although CCTV evidence seized by Met Police investigators showed Reza was racing his BMW 330d M Sport against an identical model hire car driven by William Spicer, they were unable initially to prove the speed of either vehicle.

A key piece of supporting evidence was available from the telematics device fitted to Spicer’s BMW 330d M Sport.

Asset Protection Unit (APU) were asked to analyse the telematics data and provided the Metropolitan Police with a precise timeline of events through vehicle events captured during the incident journey.

The CCTV evidence gathered from multiple building locations showed both cars were driving at speed towards the incident area, however they were travelling with a constant distance between them at the incident location which enabled APU’s telematics expert to show Reza’s car must have been driven at least 69 miles per hour, the same speed as Spicer’s, moments before Reza hit pedestrian Hina Shamim.

The APU expert witness was also able to refute an allegation from Reza that Spicer had collided with his vehicle causing him to lose control.

Neil Thomas, Director of Investigative Services at APU, said: “We recognise how devastating this incident has been to everyone involved and send our condolences to Ms Shamim’s family and friends.

"Accurate analysis of telematics data can be complex but our expert witness was able to assist the Police investigation, and present his testimony in a way which helped the Court and the jury fully understand the incontrovertible and unchallenged evidence from the Telematics device."

Judge Richard Leon Marks said: “The evidence provided in the case was essential to assessing the speed of the driver and the speed in which he was travelling – far over the speed limit – when he hit Shamim. The consequences to Shamim's family are devastating and no sentence I could give would begin to address or consolidate their feelings. I accent that Reza's remorse is genuine but it was only him responsible for putting his foot down on the accelerator that day.”

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