A Ghanaian national living in the UK has been jailed for six years after causing the death of a five-year-old boy by dangerous driving in Leeds.
Colin Agyei, 32, was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of causing the death of Abdullah Ebrahim. The collision happened on 7 July 2022 on Back Camberley Street in Beeston, a narrow back street that is not generally used by vehicles.
The court heard that Agyei drove a Nissan Note past a no-entry sign and struck Abdullah as the boy ran across the road. The five-year-old was taken to hospital but died shortly afterwards.
Agyei, who was working as a delivery driver, used the restricted street as a shortcut to save time. Investigators estimated he was travelling at about 15mph. Police later tested the road and found that vehicles could not safely travel along it at speeds above about 7mph.
He admitted a lesser offence of careless driving but denied causing death by dangerous driving. A jury convicted him after a trial last month. He returned to court on 24 September 2026 to be sentenced.
Abdullah’s mother, Salma Begum, told the court she could not understand why the driver failed to stop. “I will never forget the image of Abdullah lying on the floor on his own,” she said. “That image has stayed with me for four years. It is something I carry every single day.”
Sentencing Agyei, Judge Tom Bayliss KC said he had taken Abdullah’s life by using a one-way street as a shortcut. “You did for no better reason than it saved you time as a delivery driver,” the judge said. “The one-way system was clearly signed and you had ample opportunity to observe these signs.”
He was also banned from driving for more than seven years.
Detective Sergeant Steve Suggitt, of West Yorkshire Police’s Major Collision Enquiry Team, said the crash was avoidable. “This collision was completely avoidable had Agyei complied with the no-entry sign and not driven into Back Camberley Street,” he said. “Abdullah would not have been expecting a vehicle to be driving up the road and did not have time to react.”
He added that no sentence could match the grief faced by the boy’s family.
