A MINICAB driver was 'careless' not to see a pedestrian with a crutch whom he ran over and killed in Kingsbury, a court heard.
Wahidullah Hoori, 41, had just turned off Edgware Road in Kingsbury when his 05-reg Seat Alambra people carrier hit Barry Southgate as the slow-moving 64-year-old crossed Kingsbury Road, at 11.50pm on April 11 2012.
Mr Southgate, of Theobald Crescent, Harrow, died nine days later from his injuries at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, west London.
Hoori denies causing death by careless driving and is standing trial at Wood Green Crown Court in north London.
Prosecutor Nicholas Bleaney told jurors: "The prosecution say he should have seen him and had plenty of opportunity to see him and Mr Southgate was doing nothing dramatic.
"He was walking along at a relatively slow, pedestrian speed - something any driver in any part of the country, particularly in London, has to deal with all the time.
"He did not suddenly come out from behind a tree and his movements, we say, were pretty obvious.
"Speed isn't an issue. The turn was conducted at a normal speed.
"The accident, we say, was caused by carelessness.
"He (Hoori) should have stopped in time to avoid a collision or at the very least swerved to avoid him."
Mr Southgate had helped plaster a wall at a friend's house before he and his friend went for a drink at The Moon Under Water in Varley Parade, The Hyde in Colindale, where the victim drank two pints of real ale.
His bus home sped past as the two left the pub and so Mr Southgate, who was also known as Barry O'Reilly, decided at 11.30pm to walk down Edgware Road and had just turned the corner into Kingsbury Road when he was hit by the nearside front grill of Hoori's minicab.
Mr Bleaney said the defendant made a statement to police that he had been working since 2pm on the day of the collision, that he had had a day off the previous day and had consumed neither alcohol or drugs before the crash.
Witness Raluca Frunza told the court: "I saw the old man. He was on the other side of the road.
"He was walking really slowly because he was on crutches. He was not using [the traffic island] to cross the road.
"I heard a noise like a metal-to-metal noise and heard a male scream, a yell, and then I realised that the car had hit the old man.
"I saw a lot of blood on the floor."
She described Mr Southgate as "a chunky man, overweight, with a big belly, grey messy hair and a great beard".
The trial of Hoori, of Raccoon Way, Hounslow, who was using a Pashtu interpreter, continues.
Source: Harrow Observer
SERIOUS COMMENT
Would Helen Chapman like to explain:
How did a person like Mr Hoori, who needs an interpreter, obtained a Private Hire license ?
He obviously can't read or write English... so who filled in his application form - which requires the candidate to be able to speak and write basic English ?
Are LTPH turning a blind eye to fraudulent applications to obtain PH licenses ?
If this is so, LTPH could be guilty of corporate manslaughter, a very serious charge indeed !
This information should be looked into and forwarded to appropriate body for investigation. Is this poor man dead due the incompetence and malfeasance of those running LTPH ? Maybe so!
Are LTPH turning a blind eye to fraudulent applications to obtain PH licenses ?
If this is so, LTPH could be guilty of corporate manslaughter, a very serious charge indeed !
This information should be looked into and forwarded to appropriate body for investigation. Is this poor man dead due the incompetence and malfeasance of those running LTPH ? Maybe so!
4 comments:
Good Innit!
Because your scruffy and overweight (that covers about 80% of the cab trade including me!).
It seems OK the paper to include this as some kind of mitigation that the poor chap is fair game to be ran down and killed.
Can they not consider the feelings of his next of kin?
it was the same with Mr Tomlinson.
I despair!
TfL have been allowing PH candidates to be coached through the application process as far back as Penton St. In fact Knowledge Point were openly offering this service for a fee at one time; LTPH can't possibly deny any culpability as this subject was well reported in the trade press many years ago.
The idvidual behind the wheel of this PH vehicle should never have been at the location of this indecent, and the only reason he was is testimony that LTPH has been grossly negligent in protecting the public's safety by turning a blind eye to improper and corrupt activities.
Hang on.....
I have driven all over Europe, and never once has my inability to speak the local language caused me to plough mercilessly into a slow moving pedestrian.
I have been picked up from a wedding reception in a private hire vehicle at 01:30 by the same driver who dropped me at the church at 11:30 the previous morning and when I asked if he minded working split shifts (my personal one true hate) he told me he had been working constantly since he dropped me off.
I suppose I should be grateful he didn't need an interprator to tell me this, although he probably need one himself to understand the complicated intricacies of the very advanced level of 'Street Slang' that accomponied this revelation, but it seems to me that a crack down on PH firms allowing their drivers to work. These hours might help more.
Ooooh, did I mention that the wedding was at the Deutshe Evangalishe church in Monpelier Place but not expecting a licenced PH driver to know the place I said 'head towards Harrods'
'Where's Harrods?'
You couldn't make it up......
METHINKS If the vetting process by LTPH is so 'careless' this minicab driver could probably have been a taxi driver.
Is the minicab driver any less careless than LTPH? One wonders who really needs to be the subject of a more careful recruitment programme, minicab drivers or LTPH employees?
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