A CORONER said he hoped a taxi driver killed by his own car would be remembered "in the good times" as an inquest into his death officially concluded.

Ian Pears, assistant coroner, deemed that Mohammed Ilyas, 59, an Uber driver from Halifax, tragically died by road traffic collision, at Bradford Coroners’ Court today.

The court heard again how Mr Ilyas was run over by his Skoda Octavia when he got out of his car to valet it, moments after dropping a fare off in Kenmore Road, Cleckheaton, at around 5am on December 23, 2022.

He suffered head and chest injuries and died outside one of the houses on the street.

The inquest was adjourned from March 20 until April 3 so a toxicology report could be produced.

Mr Pears said to Mr Ilyas’s daughter, Nabia Ilyas, who appeared via video link for the virtual hearing today: “It doesn’t show anything untoward in your father’s blood.”

There were “no alcohol or drugs of significance," the court heard.

The inquest was then able to proceed to the conclusion as evidence had been given at the previous hearing.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: The scene on Kenmore Road, CleckheatonThe scene on Kenmore Road, Cleckheaton (Image: Newsquest)

This included details from Robert Crispin, forensic collision investigator for West Yorkshire Police, who said Mr Ilyas was found 55 metres from his taxi, which had rolled backwards down the road and into a garden.

He added: “There was a mild gradient on the road and the car could have travelled at up to 19mph.”

The handbrake of the car was off but Mr Crispin said both that, and the brakes, were in serviceable condition and had no defects.

He believes Mr Ilyas dropped the fare off and turned the Skoda around facing uphill, before vacating the vehicle with the engine on and “was subsequently rolled over by the car”.

The woman who booked the fare said she got into the back of the vehicle and that Mr Ilyas asked her twice 'are you going to be sick?' to which she responded no.

She added that Mr Ilyas seemed “uncomfortable, very weary and fed up”.

Ms Ilyas acknowledged at the earlier hearing that her father was “fastidious” about cleaning and said he was worried if people were sick in his taxi he would miss a day’s work to get it cleaned.

Mr Pears said today: “He parked up after dropping off his fare, he went round the back of the car to valet, shall we say, the rear passenger seat and for some reason, the handbrake wasn’t applied properly and I’m assuming he just opened the door and this set the car in motion and he ran round to the other side to get into the driver’s side and was hit by his own car.”

He added: “The car rolled backwards and he may have been trying to stop the car rolling and it ran over him.”

The assistant coroner said this was based on a presumption of the evidence but added: “We’ll never know for sure”.

Mr Pears gave commiserations to Ms Ilyas for her loss.

He said: “Hopefully you will be able to remember your father in the good times because I’m sure there were plenty.”