Thug whi killed 7 in horror vrash before grieving for mugshot is jailed

 Unlicensed and uninsured biker Nicholas Hopkins, 20, ploughed into little Mustafa Ahmed, eight, as he crossed the road with his dad and brother outside Greenwich Islamic Centre

Mustafa was just eight-years-old when he died

Mustafa Ahmed, eight, died at the scene outside Greenwich Islamic Centre last February

A thug who mowed down and killed an eight-year-old boy on a pedestrian crossing outside a mosque in East London has been jailed for 12 years.

Unlicensed and uninsured biker Nicholas Hopkins, 20, ploughed into little Mustafa Ahmed as he crossed the with his dad Mohamed Mao, 49, and 11-year-old brother Ahmed Ahmed. All three were injured in the smash and needed hospital treatment but Mustafa died at the scene outside Greenwich Islamic Centre on February 19 last year.

The court saw harrowing CCTV footage of Hopkins going through the red light on Plumstead Road at 58mph in a 30mph zone on his Yamaha Thundercat at around 7.30pm and careering into Mohamed and his two sons, sending them flying. Mustafa went under a stationary car and was immediately unconscious. Within an hour of the collision, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

After his arrest, Hopkins broadly grinned for his police custody photo. Following the collision, Mohamed was placed in an induced coma and needed surgery, having suffered a severe head injury and a shattered hip. He told the Mirror he did not even remember he had a son who had died when he woke up. Mustafa's brother also suffered a ruptured liver. The family had been on their way to evening prayers at the time of the crash, which happened on Plumstead Road.Hopkins - who was himself injured in the incident and taken to hospital for treatment - pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving at Inner London Crown Court in November 2023. During his sentencing today, Inner London Crown Court heard he was on bail from earlier domestic violence matters against his ex-girlfriend at the time of the collision

Prosecuting, Louise Oakley said the defendant also has one conviction for an offence of robbery in July 2020. She said of the family-of-three: "Their journey on foot caused them to walk close to the road and it was a journey they had done many times before. CCTV shows Mohamed and his two children standing at that set of lights.

"The speed limit in that area is 30 mph. CCTV can show traffic slowing and a green light appearing. Mohamed and his two children began to cross the road, closest to the traffic on their left hand side was Mustafa, then his father and then Ahmed. As they began to cross, a motorbike driven by this defendant drove straight through the red lights and as he did so he drove directly into Mohamed, Mustafa and the other boy.

"This defendant brake lighted only 0.6 seconds before the point of impact. The defendant’s motorbike then crashed into the back of a parked vehicle. Fortunately, he was wearing a helmet. Unusually, he was wearing a pair of blue latex gloves, at the time of the incident the motorbike was registered to the defendant and his home address.

"Despite having the vehicle registered to him, he did not have a drivers’ licence and he was not insured. Other road users had to take emergency or evasive action because of his actions. The CCTV shows Mohammed and his children being catapulted into the air.

"Mustafa had the most serious injuries, in fact proving fatal, he landed under a parked car. There were catastrophic’ injuries to all three. Within a matter of minutes, police and London Ambulance Service were on the scene. Despite the best efforts of emergency services, Mustafa died at 8.27pm."

Hopkins, of Burrage Grove, Plumstead, admitted causing death by dangerous driving, causing death by driving unlicensed, causing death whilst uninsured, two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and possession of Class B drugs. He was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing at the same court. He was jailed for 10 years and eight months for death by dangerous driving, with 16 months consecutive for the assault on his ex - making 12 years total.

The family-of-three had walked from their home in Woolwich Dockyard on the evening Mustafa was killed. The small boy was flung several yards and died at the scene. Mohamed was in an induced coma for several weeks and underwent multiple operations as well as intensive therapy to regain his speech and memory.

Mohamed returned to the scene in October last year

He agreed to return to the scene with the Mirror on October 19 to speak about the accident, he and Ahmed's ongoing recovery, and his family's heartbreak. The bus driver, originally from Somalia, had not been able to work since the incident and, walking on crutches, he was awaiting a hip replacement.

"I can't remember anything, I don't know what happened that night," he explained. He understands from witness accounts the lights were on red as they crossed. The junction has been an issue raised to the council before, with locals complaining that motorists drive too fast and approach the lights almost blindly. They also say the lights don't stay red long enough, with multiple other accidents occurring. Mohamed's last memory of Mustafa was a few days before. "I went for a walk, just me and him, along the River Thames near our house," he said, smiling. "We used to go along there a lot. That's all I can remember."

Mohamed was in a coma for around two months, he believes, and then weeks of therapy took place before doctors deemed he was of stable enough mind to tell him what happened. "When I woke up, I didn't remember anything, I didn't know my wife, I didn't know anybody," he said. "I didn't know the reason I was there."

Recalling when he was finally told of his son's passing, Mohamed said: "It came up after I had speech and language therapy every day for a few weeks. Then I remembered who I am. I lost so many things. I knew nothing at all." Even on being told about Mustafa - who he could by then remember - he said: "I was still confused a bit, they told me about my son about two months later. When they saw I was speaking better, they called me into a room, with my wife and the doctors and told me what happened.

"It was very bad, I wasn't thinking properly, but I was feeling very bad. I felt guilty; that it happened because I took him from home that day. I used to think it was because of me. I used to think that way." However, Mohamed said his Muslim faith helped him during the grieving process and he accepts he cannot change what happened. "It was our destiny," he said.

The crash took place on February 19 Asked how Ahmed's recovery has gone, he said: "He's recovered but not perfectly. He likes to be alone, he's quiet all the time. He wants to be sitting alone and keep quiet. Before he was more open. He was very outgoing; now he's withdrawn, even at school."

Mohamed said he and mum Heyfa Akubar, 43, will sometimes ask Ahmed about his brother and what happened, but he refuses to answer. "They were very close, the only boys in the house," he explained. "He doesn't want to talk about it. We even try to talk to him, me and his mum, we ask him things or talk about his brother but he won't."

Mohamed continues to use the same Islamic centre but now has to be taken by car. However, Heyfa prays at a different mosque. Friend Swaleh Bocus, who joined Mohamed at the scene to speak to the Mirror, said he had been praying inside the centre when it was announced there had been an accident. The congregation all went outside.

Swaleh said he saw Heyfa come rushing through the police cordon and collapse to the ground in tears - though he didn't recognise her at first. He said: "I saw a lady crossing the police cordon so I shouted 'you are not allowed to go there', not knowing that was the mum. She had seen her son's things, she knew he had died. She just fell down and collapsed and the officers and paramedics surrounded her to comfort her. She didn't stand up for nearly half an hour, she was just crying. They said 'leave her! Don't run to her! She's the mum!' She could see the boy."