A driver who veered off the A1 highway and crashed into a service station, resulting in the death of a beloved student, has been sentenced to four years and three months in prison.
Fiona Phippen, aged 45, was driving at speeds of up to 51mph when she collided with Urwah Tanveer, a 20-year-old psychology student, who was standing beside her family’s parked Mercedes at Foston Services near Grantham, Lincolnshire, in June 2024.
In April, Phippen, residing in Great Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty to causing death and serious injury due to dangerous driving.
During the court proceedings at Lincoln Crown Court, Phippen, a mother of two, wept as it was revealed that the victim had been preparing for her graduation ceremony before the tragic incident.
Jurors were shown harrowing CCTV footage of Phippen’s Nissan Qashqai colliding with Urwah, who succumbed to her injuries in the hospital a day after the accident.
The court heard that Phippen narrowly missed hitting Urwah’s brother and inflicted injuries on her 83-year-old grandmother inside the Mercedes, affecting her hand, chest, and ribs.
Phippen claimed she was distracted by another vehicle on the A1 just before the collision occurred under ideal road conditions on the afternoon of June 29, 2024.
Urwah, hailing from London, had attained a 2.1 degree at Queen Mary’s University and aspired to work in the NHS.
Evidence presented indicated that Phippen failed to apply brakes for six seconds after exiting the A1, maintaining a consistent speed of 41-51mph, possibly due to using cruise control.
During sentencing, Judge Simon Hirst noted that a six-minute WhatsApp video call ended 38 seconds prior to the crash, emphasizing Phippen’s lack of awareness while driving on the A1.
Phippen was handed a driving ban of seven years and six weeks.
Urwah’s family shared emotional victim impact statements expressing their profound grief, with her mother, Nahail Idris, revealing the lasting pain caused by the loss of her daughter.
Addressing Phippen, Nahail stated that the tragedy had inflicted a lifelong sentence of anguish on her and her family.
