Daily London
A mother has been jailed after she drove into a Perth schoolgirl who was crossing the road, and then fled.
Tahira Shaheen, who was a learner driver when she hit Alexis Lloyd, 12, changed her story multiple times throughout the case.
Today the 52-year-old was jailed for 16 months after running down Alexis as she walked across a pedestrian crossing outside Willetton Senior High School, in Perth’s south, in June 2023.
Alexis was left suffering a broken leg and collar bone when Shaheen drove off.
“We hope that the outcome sends a clear message that leaving the scene of a crime and failing to take responsibility is unacceptable,” Alexis’ mother, Tory Carter, said.
After being arrested more than two months after the crash, Shaheen told police “I knew I had hit someone but panicked”.
“I didn’t tell anyone. I was embarrassed because my child goes to Willetton Senior High School,” she said.
She was driving alone on her L-plates at the time.
The court heard Shaheen’s son came home and told her a student had been hit by a car.
Her husband later discovered damage to a vehicle, encouraging her to report it, but the 52-year-old said she didn’t know how it happened.
Her story changed throughout the case, later saying she thought she ran over a large musical instrument.
“Obviously the mental scars will be there for a long time to come but the physical ones seem to be going okay,” Carter said.
Despite the charges, the court heard Sheheen was granted a driver licence after hitting the 12-year-old.
“I think there’s something wrong with the system there, big time,” Carter said.
The 52-year-old could walk free in eight months.
