Hit-and-run driver kills girl, six

A father today told of his devastation after his six-year-old daughter was killed by a hit-and-run driver in a stolen car.

Fatima Abuukar Mohamud was thrown 20 feet in the air by the car as her family looked on helplessly.

Her distraught mother Maka clung to the girl's younger brother and two sisters as the car - illegally driving down the bus lane of a busy dual carriageway - hit Fatima. The family was returning from a shopping trip in Southall on Christmas Day.

Rushing to her daughter's side, she dropped to her knees in tears, screaming: "My daughter, she's dead."

Fatima was taken to hospital with serious injuries but died on New Year's Day.

Today, speaking fully for the first time since the tragedy, Fatima's father Yusef Abuukar Mohamud, 29, told The Evening Standard: "My little angel is dead and is never coming back. Nothing will ever sum up the pain we are going through. What has happened has left us completely devastated."

Fighting back tears, he said: "We all had such a lovely Christmas morning together. She had only gone out to the local shops when she was hit by the car - she wasn't far away at all.

"I just couldn't believe it. I didn't want to. I can't describe what it feels like to lose a daughter. She meant everything to us. We loved her so much. She was such a beautiful child. She was outgoing, popular, gentle, and thoroughly loved life. I keep asking myself why, why her, why us?"

He added: "Now we want justice. We want the man who drove that car to come forward so that our little girl can rest in peace. Please, please, whoever you are, come forward.

"Accidents happen, we understand that. Nobody is perfect, but if the driver had stopped and helped, Fatima might still be alive today. Instead, our daughter is dead and the driver is still free. At the moment we feel angry and shocked. All we want now is justice for our little girl."

Although the car stopped for a short time at the scene of the collision on Southall Broadway, at the junction with Ruskin Road, it soon sped off.

The red Toyota Carina was found by an off-duty police officer in Ealing yesterday morning. Police believe that there were two people in the car at the time of the hitandrun.

A witness described the driver as an Asian man, aged between 20 and 30. Sergeant Mick Cheeseman, who is leading the investigation, said: "This has killed a sixyearold girl and destroyed a family.

"No one can imagine what the family is going through. They are absolutely devastated by what has happened."

A post-mortem examination will be held today. An inquest date has yet to be confirmed.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Collision Investigation Unit at Scratchwood on 0208 733 4684 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.