The daughter of a 78-year-old man killed in a Middleton collision has described how the teenage driver looked her in the eye and lied about being behind the wheel. Terry James died after being struck by a vehicle on Shawbury Street on September 29, 2024, moments after leaving his daughter's home with his ten-year-old granddaughter.
Ruhul Islam, who was 16 at the time of the offence, was driving the car to make takeaway deliveries. Manchester Crown Court heard last week that he was seen overtaking and undertaking vehicles, running red lights and weaving between lanes in the moments before the crash. Now 18, Islam was jailed for nearly seven years.
Driver's Reckless Behaviour Before the Crash
The court was told that Islam had borrowed the car for takeaway deliveries. In the moments before striking Terry, dashcam footage showed him driving on the wrong side of the road, undertaking and overtaking cars and running red lights. Islam later told police he had taught himself to drive by watching YouTube videos.
Passing sentence, Judge Kate Cornell said: "The vehicle essentially became a dangerous weapon in the hands of someone unable to use it." The court also heard that Islam did not call an ambulance after the crash and initially ran into the nearby takeaway where he worked.
Family's Grief and Anger
Terry's daughter Caroline, a 55-year-old mother of six from Middleton, said her daughter Daisy was crossing the road with her grandfather and managed to get her foot on the pavement as he was hit. Caroline said: "Otherwise, she would dead too. I ran to the scene, and Islam looked me in the eye and told me he was not the driver. I will never understand how he could lie like that. Dad and I knew him and his family, I bought food from them and yet he treated us with utter contempt."
She added: "The sentence is a joke; he will be free in three years. My whole family has been ripped apart. Daisy is traumatised, as I am. We live a 2-minute walk from the scene where Dad died and it's a constant reminder of all we have lost."
Remembering Terry James
Terry, a former Royal Mail worker with four children, lived around the corner from Caroline and her daughter Jade after retiring. He was known as a kind and gentle man who loved spending time with his grandchildren. Caroline said: "Dad was the kindest, gentlest man you could ever meet. He didn't even tell us off when we were little because he didn't like to raise his voice. For him to die so brutally breaks my heart."
On the day of the crash, Caroline had cooked a Sunday roast. Terry decided to go to the local shop for fresh orange juice just before 7pm, and Daisy went with him. Caroline recalled: "Moments later, Daisy came flying back round the corner, screaming, that Grandad had been knocked down."
Terry was taken to Salford Royal Hospital but died as a result of head trauma. Caroline said the family never had a chance to say goodbye. Islam, from Chadderton, was jailed for six years and 11 months and disqualified from driving for ten years and nine-and-a-half months.
Jade said: "We were all in court to see him sentenced and he showed no remorse. His lies have made what was already a tragedy into an unforgivable act of cruelty. We will never get over losing Grandad." Caroline added: "Please think carefully before you get behind the wheel of a car. Dangerous driving takes lives and it devastates families. Our hearts will never mend."
