A delivery driver who ran over and killed a five-year-old boy on a narrow backstreet after going through a 'no entry' sign has been jailed for six years.
Colin Agyei, 32, drove the wrong way down one-way Back Camberley Street in Beeston, Leeds, because it saved him time on his drop-offs. His black Nissan Note hit Abdullah Ebrahim as the youngster ran across the road, which typically isn't used by vehicles.
Mother's grief
Agyei claimed he was 'oblivious' to the collision, having kept on driving as Abdullah's mum Salma Begum came out to find her son lying fatally injured. She told Leeds Crown Court the horrific sight of her little boy on the ground has 'stayed with me for four years'.
Ms Begum said: 'What I cannot understand, and what I will never forget, is that he failed to stop and left my child there. I will never forget the image of Abdullah lying on the floor on his own. That image has stayed with me for four years. It is something I carry every single day.'
Court sentencing
The jury took just 40 minutes to find Agyei guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. Judge Tom Bayliss KC jailed him for six years.
He said: 'You took Abdullah's life when you took a shortcut down a one-way street. You did for no better reason that it saved you time as a delivery driver. The one-way system was clearly signed and you had ample opportunity to observe these signs. It's a narrow street separating back gardens of two rows of terraced houses – the sort of place where children may either be playing or crossing.'
He accepted Agyei was remorseful and had been 'oblivious' to the collision. Judge Bayliss added: 'This was a little boy. It's hard to imagine a more vulnerable road user.'
Police reaction
Speaking after sentence, Detective Sergeant Steve Suggit said: 'This was a truly tragic incident that resulted in the death of a young boy and robbed a family of a lifetime of shared memories. This collision was completely avoidable had Agyei complied with the no entry sign and not driven into Back Camberley Street. Young Abdullah would not have been expecting a vehicle to be driving up the road and did not have time to react. While we estimate that Agyei was driving at a relatively low speed of around 15mph, during our investigation we thoroughly tested the back street and found that because of the nature of the road you cannot drive safely on it at speeds of over 7mph. While he has been given a custodial sentence, I know that no sentence can ever in any way equate to the lifetime of grief that Abdullah's family face.'
