Mr Ryan, 29, suffered catastrophic injuries and died at the scene.
Ali, 30, had failed to attend his Old Bailey trial and jurors were told by Judge Judy Khan not to speculate on his absence.
I feel very ashamed of myself and have assassinated my own character
Rashid Ali in an email read to the court
On Friday, Ali, of Beresford Road, Slough , was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.
It can now be reported that Ali had been given extra time to travel from Pakistan to give evidence in his trial but did not to board a flight.
In the absence of the jury, barrister James Scobie KC read out an email in which the defendant relayed his “great stress” and “anxiety” and apologised to “everyone he had let down”.
Ali wrote: “I feel very ashamed of myself and have assassinated my own character”, and vowed to return to Britain to face any prison sentence.
CCTV footage of the collision showed Mr Ryan was struck and thrown into the air before landing on the front of the Range Rover on Battersea Bridge on the evening of January 13 2021.
The surface of the road had been wet and the defendant had been travelled at speeds of between 39mph and 41mph in the 20mph zone, prosecutor Philip Stott said.
He had plenty of time to stop safely, and he was therefore obliged to do so by the rules of the road
Prosecutor Philip Stott
When Ali’s vehicle was about 50 metres away from the traffic lights they had changed from green to amber, which would have given him time to stop, jurors heard.
Following the collision, the defendant claimed Mr Ryan had run across the road in front of his car, leaving him no time to apply the brakes, the court heard.
However, Mr Stott said that the Highway Code clearly stated that an amber light required a driver to stop at the stop line.
A driver could only continue if the amber light appeared after the vehicle had crossed the stop line or if pulling up might cause an accident.
Mr Stott said: “There was no other vehicle travelling so close behind Mr Ali’s car that it might cause an accident if he were to stop at the amber light in the normal way.
“He had plenty of time to stop safely, and he was therefore obliged to do so by the rules of the road.”
“Instead, the defendant broke those rules, and in doing so, caused the death of Mr Ryan.”
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0