Ten-year-old girl who suffered severe brain damage in car accident caused by her father when she was just 17 m
- Abdul Mosa being sued by daughter Arda over brain damage in crash he caused
- Mosa, 51, hit lorry head-on driving on wrong side of the road in August 2014
A ten-year old girl who suffered severe brain damage in a car accident caused by her father in which her brother was also killed is suing him for damages of more than £200,000.
Arda Mosa is taking legal action against Abdul Mosa[3], 51, after he hit a lorry head-on while driving the family car on the wrong side of the road.
The family who lived in Leeds, West Yorkshire at the time, had been returning from a holiday in France[4] in August 2014 and had just left the Channel Tunnel terminal in their Kia Soul when they crashed on the A20 at Hythe, Kent.
Mr Mosa’s son Alin, 7, was killed in the crash, his younger brother Ara, 6, was seriously injured while Arda, who was aged 17 months at the time, was left with life changing injuries. His wife Huzan also sustained serious injuries but has since recovered.
Mr Mosa is still with his wife and the couple have since moved to Buckinghamshire where they raise their remaining children.
Arda Mosa, 10, who suffered severe brain damage in a car accident caused by her father Abdul Mosa in which her brother was also killed is suing him for damages of more than £200,000 (pictured: Arda with her father Abdul when she was a toddler)
The family from Leeds, West Yorkshire, had been returning from a holiday in France when Mosa crashed. His 17-month-old baby daughter Arda, who he is holding in this photograph, was severely brain damaged in the accident
Arda is taking legal action through her mother Huzan and any compensation will be covered by his insurance company.
Court documents reveal that the youngster suffers from sight problems, learning difficulties and is unable to fully use her arms or legs. She is also battling weakness, poor balance, mental and physical fatigue, anxiety, and symptoms of panic.
She is seeking a lump sum of compensation for past losses, and periodical payments for future financial losses, and provisional damages allowing her to return to court to seek more compensation if her condition deteriorates.
In 2015, Mr Mosa was spared jail by a judge who said that he had suffered enough. His trial at Canterbury Crown Court heard that he escaped with minor injuries thanks to his airbag and sobbed loudly as he cradled dying Alin in his arms.
The court was also told that two of the children were not wearing seatbelts, and that Mr Mosa had ignored other motorists as they tried to warn him, he was going the wrong way.
He admitted five charges of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving and was facing a prison sentence as a deterrent, only for Judge James O’Mahony to spare him from jail.
‘I do not know a greater deterrent for this defendant to know his mistake ended up with the killing of his own child,’ said the judge.
Lorry driver Anthony Brown was left with career-threatening injuries and spent eight days in hospital after suffering a series of fractures to his right arm.
Stephen Shay, prosecuting, said Mr Mosa had just exited the Eurotunnel and had travelled at least 200 yards in the right-hand lane – ignoring clear signs posted along the route.
‘It would seem that he simply forgot and was driving in European conditions,’ said Mr Shay. ‘This was a mistake, a brief mistake with appalling consequences.’
Arda (pictured as a baby) is taking legal action through her mother Huzan and any compensation will be covered by his insurance company
Abdul Mosa, 43, (left) was driving on the wrong side of the road when his family’s car hit a lorry head-on, killing his seven-year-old son, Alin, and injuring six-year-old Ara (the boys are pictured here together with Ara on the left) in August 2014
Mr Mosa later told police he thought he was on a one-way road – but the prosecution added the clear road markings made that unlikely.
Andrew Nuttall, mitigating said: ‘This is an appalling case which arose out of a simple mistake.
‘This defendant started his punishment the moment his son died in his arms, and he realised the enormity of his mistake.
‘The harsh reality is that this defendant is going to be punished every minute of the rest of his life.
‘He has to live with the consequences of his mistake… there can be no greater punishment in this world than that.’
The court heard that Mr Mosa was now ‘the glue’ holding his ‘fragile family’ together, and Judge O’Mahony added that despite the aggravating features in the case, jailing him would probably result in his surviving children being taken into care because his wife was unable to cope.
He said: ‘That would further punish the victims of these offences.’
Instead, Judge O’Mahony imposed a two-year sentence, suspended for two years, and banned Mosa from driving for three years.
A court write issued by Mrs Mosa on behalf of Arda said that her husband owed their daughter a duty to take reasonable care she was not injured, and to drive the car to the standard of a prudent, experienced and reasonable car driver.
Instead, he drove negligently, and has admitted liability for the crash.
References
- ^ Vivek Chaudhary (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Sarah Limbrick (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Abdul Mosa (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ France (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Leeds (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ France (www.dailymail.co.uk)