Drug-fuelled driver who caused three-year-old’s death jailed

A van driver who took at least 20 lines of cocaine before crashing into a tram, then hitting and killing a three-year-old girl with his vehicle, has been jailed.

Louisa Palmisano, from Burnley – known as Lulu – was hit by a van while walking with her parents on Mosely Street in Manchester city centre on 22 February, and later died in hospital.

Rawal Rehman, who initially fled the scene before being arrested the next day, had binged on the cocaine and visited two massage parlours in the city on the morning of the crash.

The 35-year-old, of Lambton Road, Manchester, was sentenced to 12 years in jail at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Rehman had ignored stop signs when he careered straight into the tram, causing his van to mount the pavement and hit the victim, at about 10:00 GMT on 22 February, the court heard.

He ran away from the accident, after flagging down a taxi, and was arrested a day later following a manhunt by police.

Lulu’s family said they had been on a family trip to Manchester before the “unimaginable tragedy” had occurred.

They said Rehman’s sentence “brought a measure of legal closure, but nothing can fill the void left by her absence”.