Stansted Airport ‘meet and greet’ driver Naeem Shahani, who caused 84-year-old Phyllis Willis’ death, jailed for two years and four months
A man who caused the death of an 84-year-old mother of five sons in a head-on crash near Stansted Airport has been jailed.
Naeem Shahani, 39, was working for a company offering airport “meet and greet” parking services for plane passengers when the tragedy happened two years ago.
At about 3.20pm on Monday 26 September 2022, he was driving a customer’s Range Rover to the airport when he was involved in a collision on Parsonage Road, between Takeley and Molehill Green.
Shahani lost control of the vehicle on a bend and collided with a Mitsubishi Shogun travelling in the opposite direction.
The other driver spent almost two weeks in hospital after she suffered multiple injuries.
Sadly, Phyllis Willis, from Rayne, Braintree, a front-seat passenger in the Shogun, died at the scene.
Following an investigation by Essex Police’s serious collision investigation unit, Shahani, of Sheppey Road, Dagenham, was charged with two offences: causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He pleaded not guilty to them and elected to stand trial. Five weeks ago, at the conclusion of a five-day trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, he was found guilty of both offences.
At the same court on Thursday (November 28), he was given a prison sentence of two years and four months.
He was also disqualified from driving for six years and four months. He must take an extended driving retest before he can have his licence back.
Soon after her death, Phyllis’s family paid tribute to her, saying: “Our family is devastated by the sudden loss of our mother.
"She was a mother to five boys and grandmother to many grandchildren and great-grandchildren."
After today’s sentencing, Det Sgt Sam Nason, from the serious collision investigation unit, said: “This was a tragic collision that took Phyllis away suddenly from her loved ones. My thoughts remain with Phyllis’s family and friends.”
