A WOMAN has told of the “daily torture” of having to pass the damaged van which hit and killed her dad - parked on his killer’s driveway near her home.
Deborah Parratt, 46, says the damaged blue Peugeot Bipper with its smashed windscreen half a mile from her home acts as a permanent reminder of the tragedy. She has even had to map out a detour to avoid the house with the parked van which is a two-minute car drive from where she lives.
Deborah is stunned the vehicle has not been crushed by police following the hit-and-run in Idle Road which claimed the life of her beloved dad Kenneth Parratt 18 months ago. Uninsured driver Yasser Iqbal, 29, of Norman Grove, Idle, was jailed for 15 months in January at Bradford Crown Court after he ploughed into Kenneth as he crossed the road to get a takeaway.
The 71-year-old, who had six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, was treated by paramedics at the scene of the crash but was later pronounced dead. Kenneth’s family initially hit out at the “unforgivable” actions of Iqbal, who fled the scene, before abandoning the van two miles down the road on September 23, 2016.
But Kenneth’s daughter, Deborah “broke down” when she saw the van back parked in Iqbal’s driveway after it was returned by police following the end of the court case. She said: “The police took it away until it went to court because they needed it as evidence and then just out of the blue last Saturday it turned up in the driveway. I thought, ‘how inconsiderate it that?’, the windscreen was still smashed and it’s just two minutes away from my house, where is the compassion?
“It just brings everything back, I get flashbacks anyway.”
Deborah says she is now looking to lodge a complaint against West Yorkshire Police.
Iqbal had been due to stand trial, but instead entered a guilty plea to causing death by careless driving and was jailed for 15 months and will be banned from driving for two years on his release from custody. He had already admitted charges of causing death by driving while uninsured, and dangerous driving.
Speaking outside their home on Wednesday, Iqbal’s family member, who did not wish to be named, said: “At the end of the day the police have given it back, that’s not our fault.
“I can understand, it’s not nice for them to see it and it brings back memories but the police have released it.”
A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “The collision which caused Mr Parratt’s death was hugely traumatic and distressing for his family. It is standard procedure that property which is seized as part of the investigation or for court proceedings is not retained indefinitely and would be returned to the legal owner once the court process is fully concluded, as they have in this case. Officers fully understand and sympathise with the terrible loss Mr Parratt’s family have suffered.”
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