Van driver jailed after killing student

Van driver jailed after killing London student During sentencing, the judge said Christopher Jackson, who had "no experience of driving vans, let alone electric vans", pumped on the accelerator, thinking it was the brake. Friday 6 March 2026 15:36, UK Why you can trust Sky News A man has been jailed for eight years after crashing a van into gates near a London university campus and killing a student. Christopher Jackson, 27, from Southampton, previously admitted causing Aalia Mahomed's death by dangerous driving on 18 March last year. The Old Bailey was told the 20-year-old student - who was in her second year of a physics and philosophy degree - had been sitting on a bench close to King's College London's campus in the Strand. The court heard Jackson was tasked with picking up a van from Bush House, in Aldwych, but he had never driven an electric vehicle before. His van collided with gates near the campus in The Strand, mounted a flower bed, becoming briefly airborne, before hitting Ms Mahomed who was sitting on a bench . It then came to a stop close to the wall of St Mary-Le-Strand church. The Old Bailey heard that the incident lasted about six seconds. During sentencing, Judge Philip Katz KC, said Jackson had "no experience of driving vans, let alone electric vans", adding there was a "significant level of irresponsibility in this case". "It is accepted that you were pressing or pumping on the accelerator, thinking it was the brake," he explained. Jackson previously pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after two other KCL students, Irem Yoldas and Yamin Belmessous - both in their 20s - suffered life-changing injuries after being hit by the gate. Samira Shafi, Aalia's mother, said in a statement: "When you lose a child, you don't just lose a presence of someone in your life, you lose a part of yourself. "Our beautiful Aalia had her whole life ahead of her, cut so short at the age of 20 with no warning and no goodbyes... the l...