A man has been jailed for eight years after killing a taxi driver in a crash during a 'driving rampage' while under the influence of cocaine. Aiden King-Eeson, 25, of no fixed abode but originally from Birmingham, had cocaine in his system when he took a car without permission after a party and sped through Nottingham on 4 July.
Nottingham Crown Court heard King-Eeson was on the wrong side of the road and doing 74mph in a 30mph zone when he hit the car driven by Gurmit Singh Matharu. The 54-year-old taxi driver was pronounced dead at the scene. He had been on his way home to celebrate his son's birthday.
King-Eeson pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, driving while unfit through drink or drugs, aggravated vehicle taking, and driving without insurance or a licence. He was jailed for eight years.
Nottinghamshire Police said King-Eeson had taken cocaine and attended a house party in Hucknall the previous evening. He took a BMW without permission and was recorded on a speed camera on Nuthall Road in Aspley travelling at 61mph in a 30mph zone. He then went on to Valley Road at 53mph in a 40mph zone before driving through Sherwood, where he ignored a red traffic light. He clipped a lorry near the Goose Fair roundabout before driving through two more red traffic lights along Gregory Boulevard. While overtaking a car near the junction with Birkin Avenue, he collided head-on with Mr Matharu's taxi.
Mr Matharu's daughter, Sandeep Matharu, said: 'My dad was on his way home from work but he never made it. He fell victim to King-Eeson, whose selfish and reckless actions gave dad no chance of survival. Dad died on the side of the street, with no family with him, which is something that will haunt us all forever. We lost the pillar of our family that day.'
Det Sgt Adam Cooper said: 'He [King-Eeson] was relentless in his driving rampage, only stopping when he had taken the life of an innocent man who just so happened to be another object in his way.'
