UPDATE: |Hit-and-run conspiracy past of driver who killed girl, 3, in van-tram horror crash after ’20 lines of cocaine’ News

Rawal Rehman, 35, will be sentenced next month

A van driver who killed a girl after hitting a tram before careering into the three-year-old was previously involved in a fatal hit-and-run conspiracy, the Manchester Evening News can reveal.

Rawal Rehman admitted causing death by dangerous driving on Tuesday (April 22) following an incident that claimed the life of Louisa Palmisano, known as Lulu, on February 22.

Manchester Crown Court heard the 35-year-old had ‘at least 20 lines of cocaine’ in the hours before the horror smash.

Lulu was walking along the pavement with her parents when she was hit by a white Mercedes Sprinter van being driven by Rehman, on Mosley Street.

Prosecutors said he was travelling along Nicholas Street when he ignored stop signs and drove across the junction at Mosley Road.

A tram bound for Manchester Airport was heading towards St Peter’s Square when it hit Rehman’s van, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

The van careered onto the pavement on Booth Street, hitting Lulu and her parents. Rehman abandoned the van and fled the scene.

Lulu was rushed to Manchester Royal Infirmary. She suffered a major head injury and sadly died. Rehman was tracked by officers who found documents found in his van. He was arrested two days later.

It is not the first time Rehman has been before the courts for driving-related offences. In 2017, he jailed for three years for conspiracy to pervert the course after he torched a car involved in a fatal hit-and-run collision which claimed the line of a 25-year-old man in Chorlton.

Craig Rodger, 25, was knocked down on Wilbraham Road in Chorlton on March 10, 2014. The driver, Mohammed Basit Chaudhry, then 26, was speeding at the wheel of a Porsche Panamera he had borrowed from a friend to impress a woman on a date.

Chaudhry fled to Dubai a week after the incident. Some 13 months later he lost his own life in another high-speed crash.

While Craig was left dying in the road, Chaudhry organised for the Porsche to be burnt out on a car park at Chorlton Ees Nature Reserve. He recruited two other men to help him, one of those being Rehman, then 27, who torched the Porsche.

Mohammed Omayr, then 33, of Wilbraham Road, who owned the car and had ‘reluctantly’ loaned the vehicle to Chaudhry, helped by driving in convoy with him after the incident. Once he had dumped the Porsche he drove him home so he had an alibi.

Rehman was initially jailed for 45 months at Manchester Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. His sentence was reduced to three years after taking his case to the Court of Appeal.

On Tuesday, Rehman was remanded in custody until sentencing on May 27 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

In a statement, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Rehman ignored stop signs and gave the tram driver no time to react before it struck the side of the van, which then mounted the pavement.

Abbie Clarke, senior crown prosecutor for CPS North West, said: “Our thoughts go out to Lulu’s family who must bear this unimaginable loss.

“Rawal Rehman ignored the stop signs and tram warning signs when he drove straight into the path of an oncoming tram, and it is clear his driving fell far short of what is expected of a competent and careful driver.

“Rehman failed to take responsibility for his actions. He fled the scene in a taxi and denied that he drove dangerously in interview, only accepting responsibility on his third hearing before the court.

“He must now face the consequences for his role in this wholly avoidable tragedy.”