A disqualified driver who ran over a stranger in a "chance encounter" in a leisure centre car park is likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Haaris Rana, 22, was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey after deliberately running over Seyyed Rast Mir-Feyzi following a spat and received a life sentence with a minimum term of 19 years.
The Stainby Close, West Drayton , resident drove a rented white BW straight at the 24-year-old victim at Great North Leisure Park in Chaplin Square, North Finchley, on May 31 2017.
Mr Mir-Feyzi was rushed to an east London hospital by air ambulance with serious head injuries, but died the following day, having just completed a computing degree at the University of Westminster .
Headlines from our courts
Rana's co-defendent Yasir Ibrahim, 22, of Maddison Close in East Finchley, was jailed for eight years having been found of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.
The court had heard that Rana and Ibrahim confronted and goaded the victim and his two friends who were sat in a parked vehicle in the leisure centre's car park.
They got involved in a fight and called a second car for back-up when Ibrahim got into a car and drove straight at Mr Mir-Feyzi, who managed to dodge the car.
Mr Mir-Feyzi was then hit by a second car being driven right at him at a deliberately high speed by Rana, who had been disqualified from driving for 18 months.
Rana and Ibrahim abandoned the car at the car park and made off in the direction of Finchley High Road.
The pair were sentenced at the Old Bailey on Wednesday (February 14).
Detective Chief Inspector Gary Holmes, from the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "This was a violent attack with tragic consequences which has had a devastating impact on Mr Mir-Feyzi’s family.
"Today’s sentencing shows that brutal and vicious attacks like this have strong repercussions and that the full force of the law will be handed down to those that commit these acts.
"It’s likely that Rana, who suffers from a brain condition, will spend the rest of his life behind bars. I hope this brings some sort of justice to Mr Mir-Feyzi’s family."
Mr Mir-Feyzi's father paid tribute to his son, saying: "I feel like I have lost a part of my body.
"Knowing that he can never come back has left me and my wife broken.
“We donated our son's organs and from this, part of our son lives on. Four people have the gift of life because of his death."
He went on to say his son's killer "has also killed my family and me too".
Olcay Sapanoglu, from the CPS London homicide unit, said: "This was a chance encounter between two groups of people that resulted in a senseless murder.
"The violence was also witnessed by members of the public who were attending the entertainment duplex in North Finchley that evening.
"The prosecution was able to prove the defendants were guilty using witness accounts and CCTV footage from the scene.
"The Crown Prosecution Service also took the decision not to prosecute this case as death by dangerous driving but in fact murder because of the strong evidence that showed Rana had intended to kill his victim, or at the very least cause him really serious harm.
"Our thoughts are with Mr Mir-Feyzi’s family and friends at this time."
Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.
You can set up your app to see all the latest news and events from your area, plus receive push notifications for breaking news.
Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android .
