Mum’s desperate question to taxi driver who pulled her from crash

A taxi driver rushed to the scene of a car crash to save the life of a mum.

Russell Cooper was driving in the early hours when he spotted a Volkswagen had crashed into a roundabout connecting East Prescot Road and Pilch Lane. He rushed towards the incident with a fire extinguisher from his own car, in an attempt to help the passengers still trapped inside as the car burst into flames.

Mum, Nasrin Saleh, had been driving the car with her friend Luqman Mehboob as a passenger at the time of the crash, at around 4.45am on October 10, 2021. Mr Cooper was able to drag Saleh from the wreckage before the fire intensified.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that while he was carrying Saleh away to safety, she asked him: “We swapped, we were doing balloons, me baby, me friend, is he still in there?”

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The taxi driver returned to the fire and tried to reach Mr Mehboob but he was unresponsive. Mr Cooper was forced to step back due to the strength of the fire and smoke.

Saleh, 26, was sentenced on Monday, June 5, to four and a half years for causing the death of Luqman Mehboob by dangerous driving. On the night of the crash, the court was told that Saleh, of Colville Street in Wavertree, had been on a night out in Manchester.

She decided to return home to Liverpool at around 1.45am and stayed to socialise with friend Shujata Begum. Shortly after 2am, Mr Begum and Saleh got into the Volkswagen Golf GTI that was driven by Mr Mehboob, 28.

The car belonged to Mr Mehboob’s cousin, but he had borrowed it. Mr Mehboob then drove them around Manchester city centre as they listened to music.

They then got onto the motorway to return to Liverpool. It was at this point that Mr Begum realised that Mr Mehboob and Saleh were both using nitrous oxide canisters.

He later told police that Saleh “was having loads of these, approximately two to three boxes which each contained 15 canisters”. Mr Begum was dropped off on Upper Stanhope Street at around 4.15am to return to his own car.

Mr Begum saw the Volkswagen drive off with Mr Mehboob still behind the wheel. The car then drove away from the city centre – it was seen on CCTV from a Shell Garage on Liverpool Road, heading outbound.

At this point, the car was not seen to have been driven erratically or at excessive speed. However, at some point Saleh swapped into the driver’s seat and the car turned around to head towards Liverpool city centre. It is not known when or where the swap took place as Saleh answered “no comment” in a police interview.

Shortly before 4.45am, a witness was driving along East Prescot Road at the 40mph speed limit. He saw the Volkswagen overtake him at high speed, which he estimated to be above 80mph.

He saw the car continue at high speed along the road as it approached the roundabout connecting East Prescot Road and Pilch Lane. The car then crashed into the roundabout before it burst flames.

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