A 28-year-old man who knocked down and killed a great-grandfather was speeding because he was late for work, a Court was told.

Bradford Crown Court heard Qasim Mir – who was due to start work in Wakefield at 11am on September 9 last year – was “rushing” along Manchester Road when he hit father-of-five Rexford Barnett, 73, at 10.59am.

Duncan Richie, prosecuting, told how Mir, a claims advisor on his probationary period, was driving his Audi at speeds of up to 52.8mph in a 30mph zone when he ran over Mr Barnett, who was using a pedestrian crossing.

Jailing Mir for three years for causing death by dangerous driving yesterday, Judge Jonathan Rose said: “You were due to be in work at 11am that day in Wakefield.

“You had no reason to be at that point on Manchester Road at 11am.”

Mr Richie told the court Mr Barnett, who moved to Bradford from Jamaica in 1962, had been standing at the pedestrian crossing for a few minutes when he decided to cross the road to walk to a bookmakers. “The red man was still showing but there was a clear gap [in the traffic],” he said.

“Mr Barnett clearly thought it was significant for him to cross safely.”

Members of Mr Barnett’s family watched CCTV footage from a nearby shop played to the court, showing the moment he was hit by Mir’s Audi and thrown 20 metres across the carriageway.

Mir stopped at the scene and gave the grandfather CPR, but he was pronounced dead by paramedics a short time later.

When interviewed by police, the defendant said he had seen Mr Barnett the crossing the road and thought he would stop.

He told officers: “The lights were on green for me to go so I had no reason to slow down or stop for anyone.”

The court heard an accident investigator’s report found that even if Mir was driving at the highest speed of 58.2mph, he would have had time to stop and avoid hitting Mr Barnett when he saw him.

Andrew Dallas, mitigating, said Mir was a man of good character with no previous convictions.

“I have been instructed to report the defendant’s genuine remorse for this tragedy and for having caused the tragic death of this loved member of the family,” he added.

Sentencing, Judge Rose said Mir had been “rushing”.

He added: “At the speed you were driving it was still within your ability to slow down to stop, to swerve, to change lanes – the traffic in the adjacent lanes was minimal, or non-existent.

“But you carried on your course because you felt you had the right to do so.”

Mir was also banned from driving for three years.