Mohammed Azim Jailed For Life & Ordered To Serve Minimum Of Twenty Years For Murdering Teenage Mother Lily Whitehouse In Oldbury Recovery Truck Attack

A 41-year-old recovery truck driver has been jailed for life after being convicted of murdering a 19-year-old mother by driving into her and pinning her against a lamp post during an argument in Oldbury, West Midlands.

Mohammed Azim was sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court to a minimum term of 20 years after a jury found him guilty of murdering Lily Whitehouse.

The court heard Whitehouse suffered fatal chest injuries after being struck and pinned against a lamp post by a recovery truck driven by Azim, after he collected her following a visit to see her premature baby in hospital.

Emergency services pronounced her dead at the scene.

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The pair had been in an on-off relationship since she was 16 or 17, with periods of separation and reconciliation. Mr Justice Murray told the court Azim was at times “supportive and kind”, but this was “largely because you wanted to continue a sexual relationship with Lily”, and that he was also “at times aggressive”.

Jurors were the pair met in West Bromwich High Street when Whitehouse was 16 or 17 and exchanged contact details, with their relationship continuing intermittently over several years, including repeated contact after disputes and periods of separation.

Detective Inspector Nigel Box of West Midlands Police said Whitehouse’s baby was expected be allowed home soon, and that had been “looking forward to becoming a mum” and described preparations for the baby including clothing, bottles and feeding equipment. Azim was not the father of the child.

Libby Higgs, a friend of Whitehouse, told the court that after the birth of her daughter, Whitehouse had said she intended to leave Azim when the baby was discharged from hospital because she knew she could not remain in the relationship “because of social services”.

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Azim initially told police the incident was a hit-and-run involving an unknown driver. He was later arrested following CCTV and forensic enquiries. In interview he said he could not remember the impact. At trial he accepted he had lied about a third-party vehicle, saying he panicked, but maintained he did not deliberately strike Whitehouse.

Jurors were told the vehicle passed Whitehouse’s home without stopping, a route detail relied upon by the prosecution in support of its case that the situation had escalated prior to the fatal collision.

The jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court returned its verdict by a majority of 10 to two after less than six hours’ deliberation.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Murray said Azim’s actions carried an obvious risk of death, adding that he would have been aware Whitehouse had a five-week-old baby in hospital. He said he could not be sure Azim intended to kill her, but was satisfied he intended to cause really serious harm.

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Defence barrister Imran Shafi KC said Azim’s initial account was untrue but driven by panic. He said Azim contacted emergency services shortly after the incident and later expressed significant distress about proceedings.

In mitigation, the court heard Azim experienced acute psychological distress following the incident and had at times expressed that he could not live with what had happened.

Whitehouse’s family said in statements they were left with enduring questions about her final moments.

Azim was emotional as sentence was passed. He will serve a minimum of 20 years before being considered for parole.