Van driver who crushed girlfriend in Oldbury guilty of murder

A man has been found guilty of murdering his teenage girlfriend by crushing her to death against a lamp-post. Lily Whitehouse, 19, suffered fatal chest injuries in the attack in Oldbury, West Midlands, on 5 November, hours after visiting her premature baby in an intensive care unit. Mohammed Azim, 41, had denied using his van as a weapon, initially claiming she was hit by another vehicle in a hit-and-run, but was convicted at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday. Judge Mr Justice Murray told Azim, of Tividale Road in Tipton, he would be sentenced on Monday afternoon after the jury returned their verdict by a majority of 10 to two after less than six hours of deliberation. Members of Whitehouse's family in the public gallery sobbed as the verdict was returned. The court was shown CCTV footage of Azim pushing the teenager with his vehicle before causing catastrophic chest injuries. A Home Office pathologist found Whitehouse had suffered injuries predominantly to her right side while in an upright position, including a broken upper arm, fractured ribs, a laceration to her liver and traumatic injuries to her chest, which caused "severe bleeding" and led to her death. Azim picked Whiteho