Distraught family had to wait four years for justice after killer driver fled UK
A FORMER Eastenders actor has been jailed for killing an England cricket star’s mum in a horror crash.
Youssef Berouain smashed into Gus Atkinson’s mum Caroline, 55, as she travelled in an Uber while driving at double the speed limit.
The actor, who also had roles in Doctors and the 9/11 mini series The Looming Tower, fled the country after the tragedy.
Shockingly, police only realised he had disappeared seven months after the 2020 crash when they arrived at his London home to arrest him.
It has now emerged Berouain has now been jailed for eight-and-a-half years, the Telegraph reports.
His sentence was handed down in July as rising cricket star Atkinson was helping England smash the West Indies at Edgbaston.
Southwark Crown Court heard Caroline was travelling back from a Christmas night out in an Uber on December 10, 2020, when Berouain’s Audi Q7 struck it.
The actor had been driving at 60mph in a 30mph zone in Fulham, South West London, before the horror.
Tragically, Caroline couldn’t be saved and was declared dead around two hours later.
Police described how Berouain smelt of cannabis when they arrived at the scene but he refused to give a roadside sample.
He was taken to Hammersmith Police Station where he again refused to give blood and urine samples and maintained he was doing 20 to 30mph.
Berouain then fled the country after being bailed and first travelled to Dubai before jetting to the US.
He was only found when police in LA discovered he applied for a driving licence in California so had divulged his address.
But it took another four years for Berouain to be extradited to the UK following a costly, transatlantic legal battle.
He appeared in court on June 14 this year where he pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and careless driving.
The actor, who played a teen gang member called Tayo in Eastenders, was sentenced on July 26 where Caroline’s husband Ed read a moving victim impact statement.
The judge said: “Her death robbed her of the chance to become a grandmother, and her children and in due course grandchildren are forever deprived of her presence and love as their lives progress.
“The picture that emerges from these statements is of a formidable woman, fiercely devoted to her children and who stood up for what was right. She was also evidently a community-minded individual.
“I am very moved by her husband’s description of the street in which she lived being lined by hundreds of friends and mourners on the day of her funeral. That shows that she was a much-loved and respected woman.”
Atkinson is one the most promising young England cricket stars in recent years.
He carried off two historic individual performances at Lord’s, taking 12 wickets on his Test debut in July – the best by an England debutant since 1890.
He also took a century against Sri Lanka last week – becoming just one of only six cricketers to appear on both honours boards.
