A convicted drug dealer has pleaded guilty to killing a three-year-old girl while driving recklessly, shortly after being released from prison on licence.
Rawal Rehman, 35, had been on all-night cocaine binge when his van collided with Louisa Palmisano and her parents in Manchester city centre on 22 February.
The child, also known as Lulu, was holding the hands of both her parents when Rehman’s vehicle careered into them after hitting a tram. Passersby including a junior doctor rushed to help the young girl but she had suffered fatal head injuries.
Rehman, who had previously served a prison sentence after he torched a car involved in another fatal crash, fled the scene in a taxi.
Rachel Shenton, prosecuting, told Manchester crown court on Tuesday that Rehman had taken “at least 20 lines of cocaine” in seven hours and visited two massage parlours before the collision.
Shenton said he had left one of the venues at 6am and a second one at 6.30am before his Mercedes Sprinter van struck Louisa shortly before 10am.
The three-year-old from Burnley in Lancashire had been enjoying a “happy family day out”, her family said. They described her as the “sweetest, kindest and most generous little girl” who was “full of creativity and joy, and she absolutely loved going to nursery every day”.
Rehman was jailed for 11 years and three months in February 2018 after being convicted of being part of an armed drug gang in south Manchester, and he was released in October 2023. In January 2017, he was jailed for nearly four years for conspiracy to pervert the course after he torched a car involved in a fatal hit-and-run collision that killed a 25-year-old man in Manchester.
Judges later reduced that sentence to three years after ruling that he should have received more credit for his guilty plea. At the time of the collision in February, Rehman is understood to have been out of prison on licence over the drugs offences.
Abbie Clarke, a senior crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a devastating incident which shocked our community, and 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.”
Rehman was traced by police after they found documents in his van. In his police interview, he accepted that he had been driving at the time of the collision but claimed his driving was not dangerous. He claimed to have panicked when he fled the scene.
He was remanded in custody until sentencing on 27 May.
Louisa’s family previously said in a statement: “Her absence has left a devastating void in our family – she was our only child, our whole world. We were simply enjoying a happy family day out in Manchester when this unimaginable tragedy struck. In an instant, our lives were shattered beyond repair.”
