Driver jailed after weaving through traffic and causing fatal five-car crash on A456

A driver was jailed after a reckless manoeuvre on a Worcestershire dual carriageway led to a five-car collision that killed a mother of two and left her younger daughter with life-changing injuries.

CCTV captured 26-year-old Anayat Ur-Rehman weaving in and out of traffic on the A456 at Hagley before his VW Passat struck a Ford Fiesta, which flipped across the central reservation and collided with an Audi driven by 40-year-old primary school teacher Abigail (Abbi) Hudson. The crash occurred at about 1:15 p.m. on October 19 last year.

Body-worn camera footage released during sentencing shows police officers arresting Ur-Rehman at the scene while paramedics worked to treat the injured. Ur-Rehman, a hospital radiographer from Birmingham, admitted causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving and was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison. He was also disqualified from driving for nine years.

Mrs. Hudson, described by her husband as a "beautiful" woman, was killed instantly in the collision. She was in the Audi with her husband, Ryan, and their daughters Ava, 10, and Isobel, 16, who had been travelling to a college open day. Ava suffered catastrophic injuries, including a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain, and has required ongoing medication; her father told the court the scars on her face and the need for lifelong treatment will be a constant reminder of the crash.

In a victim impact statement read to Worcester Crown Court, Isobel recounted sitting in the back seat beside her younger sister and hearing her "fighting for her life." She told the court that what had been meant to be an ordinary visit to a prospective college turned into a day that irrevocably changed her family.

Ryan Hudson said his wife's death had "left a permanent void" in the family's life and listed milestones she would not be present to see, including school proms, graduations, weddings and grandchildren. He said the family's future together had been taken from them.

Prosecutors told the court that Ur-Rehman's Passat undertook the Fiesta before impact, triggering the sequence that involved two other vehicles in addition to the Fiesta and the Audi. The collision sequence was described in court as a "moment of madness" by Ur-Rehman.

Detective Constable Joe Curry of West Mercia's Serious Collision Investigation Unit South said Ur-Rehman had shown a "total disregard for the safety of the other road users" and expressed the hope that the sentence would serve as a sobering reminder of why speed limits and driving regulations exist.

The case was prosecuted on evidence that included CCTV of the driving prior to the collision, witness accounts and bodycam footage of emergency responders. Ur-Rehman's guilty plea to causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving was entered before sentencing.

Emergency services attended the scene and treated multiple casualties before they were taken to hospital. The crash has prompted public discussion about dangerous driving on high-speed roads and the consequences for victims and their families, while authorities reiterated appeals for drivers to adhere to traffic laws.

Ur-Rehman's sentence and disqualification follow the court's assessment of the seriousness of the offence and the harm caused to the Hudson family. The outcome concludes the criminal proceedings against him; civil remedies for the family, if any, were not detailed in court reporting.