A jury has heard how a private hire driver carried on with his shift and picked up another fare after fatally injuring a pedestrian.
Dewsbury man Mohammed Imtiaz told investigating officers that he thought youths had thrown a brick at his Toyota Corolla when its windscreen was shattered in the early hours and even though he stopped he couldn’t see 28-year-old Vicky Holland lying seriously injured on Whitehall Road in Wyke.
But prosecutor David Gordon suggested that Imtiaz’s decision to drive off was “indicative of a guilty conscience” on his part.
Shortly after the collision Imitiaz picked up three more passengers and told them that his car had been damaged by a brick, but Mr Gordon said the witnesses described the defendant making “a quick and sharp manoeuvre” to avoid Whitehall Road when they saw the emergency services at the scene.
Miss Holland, who lived in Scholes, died in hospital about 11 hours after the collision in May last year.
Bradford Crown Court heard today (Tues) that Imtiaz, 45, of Healds Road, carried on working and only went to went to the police station after he got home and saw the extent of the damage to his vehicle.
Imtiaz has denied causing Miss Holland’s death by careless driving, but Mr Gordon said the prosecution’s case was that the defendant was not paying proper care and attention to what was going on ahead of him otherwise he would have seen her crossing the road.
Mr Gordon said the evidence of a collision investigator indicated that Miss Holland had been crossing from the driver’s offside that night and there was no evidence of the Imtiaz braking or swerving to avoid her.
He told the jury that the issue for them to consider was whether his driving immediately prior to the collision fell below that of a “reasonable and competent driver.”
The court heard that there were no witnesses to the collision or CCTV footage of it although a woman in a nearby pub had heard a loud thud while she was watching television.
Mr Gordon said there was no evidence that Imtiaz had been speeding and the sightline to the scene of the collision was said to be more than 200 metres.
Imtiaz went to the police about an hour-and-a-half after the collision and said he hadn’t been aware that he had collided with someone.
The court heard that Miss Holland had been drinking alcohol, but there was no evidence to suggest she was walking quickly or running across the road.
Mr Gordon showed the jury photographs of the damage caused to Imtiaz’s vehicle in the collision and he told them they would also see footage from a police reconstruction of the scene.
The trial continues.
