A speeding teenage driver in a “souped up” car killed a pedestrian after propelling him ten feet into the air and over a garden wall.
Sadakat Ali Jafry, 59, an “honourable and decent man,” was killed instantly when he was struck and hurled into the wall of a house as he took his regular morning stroll for his health.
The force of the impact left driver Wakas Rehman’s Vauxhall Corsa car, which had been modified with spoilers and a loud exhaust, embedded in the wall of the house.
Sentencing Rehman, 19, to four years youth custody yesterday, the Recorder of Bradford, Judge James Stewart QC, said cars were dangerous weapons and, badly handled, were capable of killing.
He said Rehman had driven at a grossly excessive speed “for no reason other than the thrill of driving fast.”
Judge Stewart said the defendant had chosen to buy a souped up model of a Corsa with an exhaust which made it sound like a fast car. He said: “You thought of yourself as being someone with a fast car and on that morning you were determined to drive it fast.”
He added: “This is a tragic case of a man of 59 having his life snuffed out because of your recklessness and stupidity.”
Prosecutor Michael Smith told Bradford Crown Court the tragedy happened at 7.45am on Saturday, January 8, at the junction of Squire Lane and Allerton Road, Four Lane Ends.
Mr Jafry, who lived nearby in Crow Tree Lane, had taken his walk, despite his daughter trying to persuade him not to because of cold weather, when he was hit by Rehman’s Corsa as he crossed Squire Lane.
Mr Smith said Rehman, then 18, who pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, had left his home in Rhodesway to drive to his uncle’s business, and cut up another motorist, William Lakin, who was forced to slow down at a roundabout.
The teenager was driving at such a speed, Mr Lakin’s wife commented he was going to kill himself.
Rehman lost control of his car, which clipped a pedestrian island, mounted the pavement and careered across Squire Lane. The car was estimated to be travelling between 50-55mph in a 30mph speed limit.
Mr Jafry died from severe head and chest injuries. Mr Smith said the father-of-three, a retired catalogue company supervisor, had thrown himself into family life and teaching at the mosque after suffering an accident at work. The lives of his family had been devastated.
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