Heartbroken family's tears for young Mayar

DAUGHTER, AGED JUST FOUR, WAS KILLED INSTANTLY IN HORRIFIC CRASH

- JANE HAYNES

The family of Mayar Yahia speak about the death of their daughter, below left

THE brave mother of a four-year-old Birmingham girl killed when a motorist ploughed his car into them as they walked on a pavement, yards from home, has spoken for the first time of the haunting moment of impact.

Little Mayar Yahia was killed instantly in the horrific crash in Highgate, Birmingham, last April. She was among a happy group, including her mother Sara, older brother Omer and sister Mishkat, a neighbour and her children, walking home after an Eid celebration.

Out of nowhere, a car mounted the pavement at speed, giving them no chance of escape, ploughing into the railings beyond them.

"The lights were so bright coming at us and so close, there was nowhere to run," recalls a still traumatised Sara. "We just heard the loud noise and the car skid then bright lights. To lose Mayar, so fast, it is so hard."

The driver that night was Javonnie Tavener, 23, who was in a Vauxhall Corsa he was not insured to drive. He drove round the sweeping bend of Upper Highgate Street by its junction with Conybere Street, hit another car in an overtaking move before careering up the pavement, into the families.

He has since admitted causing Mayar's death by careless driving, and leaving her mother and a neighbour seriously injured, and causing death by driving while uninsured.

He is due to be sentenced next month, with Mayar's family hopeful of justice but braced for leniency.