Birmingham Driver Sentenced for Fatal Crash That Killed Four-Year-Old Girl
A Birmingham driver has been jailed for nearly four years after his car carelessly ploughed into a family group celebrating Eid, killing a four-year-old girl and seriously injuring two women.
The Tragic Incident on Upper Highgate Road
The dashcam footage begins innocently as a Mercedes driver pulls out behind a van and proceeds along Upper Highgate Road through a heavily populated family estate in Birmingham. The car is traveling at just over 18mph, well within the 20mph speed limit that reflects the residential nature of the area.
Suddenly, seconds into the footage, a Vauxhall Corsa appears from nowhere, traveling at speed. The driver, Javonnie Tavener, then 22, appears to have no regard for the speed limit and is overtaking just as the Mercedes prepares to turn right.
Tavener's car suddenly careers in front and across the road, heading straight for pedestrians making their way uphill, with bright lights picking them out. The footage cuts off at the moment of impact, but what follows is devastating.
The Victims and Aftermath
Among those on the pavement were four-year-old Mayar Yahia, her two older siblings Omer and Mishkat, and their mother Sara. Others with them included Awadia Hammed and her children. They had all been to a joyful Eid celebration and were heading home when the bright lights and loud noise suddenly disturbed their chatter.
"The lights were so bright coming at us and so close, there was nowhere to run," recalled a still traumatised Sara when she spoke to BirminghamLive last year. "We just heard the loud noise and the car skid then bright lights."
Little Mayar, Sara, and Awadia took the brunt of the impact. The two mothers suffered broken legs and were thrown through railings. Four-year-old Mayar was killed, her skull fractured in the collision. Tavener reversed in panic seconds after the collision, dragging the little girl into the road.
The footage then shows the traumatic aftermath: people running and crawling, a pushchair flipped over. Tavener and another occupant of the car did nothing to help. They got out and walked away.
The Legal Proceedings and Sentencing
The footage was used as part of the case built against Tavener, who initially fled the scene and later denied responsibility, claiming a fictitious other person had been driving. He had also tried to hide his mobile phone that would have shown it was active in the lead-up to the crash, and he tested positive for cannabis at the roadside.
He later admitted his guilt and expressed remorse. Tavener, now 23, appeared in Court 4 of Birmingham Crown Court for sentencing. He sat in the dock, feet from Mayar's parents, as the facts of the case were revealed but did not watch the screens as the footage was played in full.
Judge Peter Cooke questioned whether the Crown Prosecution Service had made the right call when deciding to charge Tavener with careless driving rather than the more serious dangerous driving charge. Doing so "severely restricted" the sentencing options available to the court, he said.
Tavener was given a jail term of three years and ten months for causing the death of Mayar and seriously injuring the two women. He received an additional 18 months in jail for a separate violent attack weeks later and was banned from driving for six years.
Family and Campaigner Reactions
After the hearing, Mayar's father Babiker, an engineer, questioned the decision to pursue the lesser careless driving charge. He said losing Mayar had been the worst moment of his life, but his ambition now is to ensure no other families suffer like his.
He has linked up with road safety commissioner Mat MacDonald and road safety campaigners in the city to press for more segregated pedestrian areas, slower speeds, and stricter enforcement. "He is in jail now. This is another step forward for us, but it doesn't change anything really. Mayar is still gone," he said.
Mr. MacDonald, West Midlands road safety commissioner, shared the family's frustration and pressed for action. "I think the sentence that's been handed down by the court today is a wholly inadequate reflection of the severity of this offence," he told Birmingham Live.
"This man subjected an entire family to an act of indescribable violence as they walked home from an Eid celebration, killing a child, and seriously injuring two women." He added: "I want to make it clear it is nothing to do with the judge in today's case that the sentence is this lenient."
"The CPS have some serious questions to answer about why the charge brought forward was not death by dangerous driving but instead death by careless driving that carries a much lower term of imprisonment. More gallingly the length of ban issued is simply not fit for purpose."
CPS Response
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: "Our thoughts remain with Mayar Yahia's family who have suffered a terrible and tragic loss. Our lawyers carefully considered all the possible charges in this complex case. This included eye-witness testimonies, CCTV footage, and a report from a forensic collision expert."
"On the basis of that evidence, multiple lawyers came to the conclusion that the test for charging Tavener with dangerous driving was not met. Javonnie Tavener has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for careless driving. Our lawyers are willing to meet with the victim's family to explain our decision making further."
