Dangerous driver who lost control and killed man riding mobility scooter in Wigan is jailed

Hanzah Yusuf lost control of the Vauxhall Zafira as he drove along Poolstock Lane on February 28, 2019 and hit Michael Smith, 53, who was riding his mobility scooter.

Manchester Crown Court heard on Thursday that Mr Smith suffered “severe internal and external trauma” and died a short time later.

Hanzah, 21, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, while his brother Noormohammed Yusuf, 31, was acquitted of the same offence after a trial but convicted of dangerous driving.

The court heard the brothers, of Park Lane in Abram, had been at an interfaith event at a mosque on Clifford Street, with Noormohammed there for his job as a social worker with Wigan Council and Hanzah helping to set up the refreshments and tidy them away.

They left in separate cars at around 8.50pm and calculations from CCTV footage showed they were travelling at 53mph along the 30mph Poolstock Lane, with Hanzah’s Vauxhall Zafira just 2.75 seconds behind Noormohammed’s Volvo S40.

Hanzah lost control of the car and hit Mr Smith as he was crossing Morton Avenue, before crashing into a van parked outside a house.

Noormohammed stopped his car and went to see what had happened to his brother, who had passed his driving test just 11 months earlier.

During his trial, Noormohammed told a jury that he was not racing his brother and he had not realised he was driving so fast.

Investigations carried out afterwards showed the tyre tread was below the legal limit on the Vauxhall Zafira, which was registered to Noormohammed.

The brothers were arrested on the night of Mr Smith’s death, but only charged in July 2020.

Hanzah pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving in February and in October the Crown Prosecution Service said it would not pursue a charge relating to a knife found in the car.

Noormohammed indicated he would plead guilty to dangerous driving, but this was rejected by the Crown and a trial for causing death by dangerous driving went ahead last month.

Toby Long, representing Hanzah, said his client’s life had changed “dramatically” after the crash and he was no longer the same person.

He had previously been doing an access course at college to go on to an engineering degree and was described as a “bright young man”, but had dropped out of the course in the second term after Mr Smith’s death.

Mr Long said: “He fasted for three months in 2019, so in April, May and June he fasted during the daytime because he felt his remorse in relation to having committed these offences. That year Ramadan came in July so the reality was this young man fasted for a period of four months.”

He said Hanzah was the youngest of 11 children and the whole family had suffered because of his actions.

Noormohammed’s barrister did not provide mitigation about his client in open court, as the judge had already read a pre-sentence report and references about him.

Sentencing Hanzah, Recorder Mary Loram QC said: “All that I have read about you makes it all the more tragic that you have found yourself where you do. It is sad indeed to see all the promise you have shown so far in your life be damaged by not even minutes of stupidity.

“There are no more serious offences in the criminal calendar than those that involve the loss of life and in your case that loss of life was the result of the most thoughtless, cavalier behaviour.”

He was jailed for four years - half of which he must serve in prison - and disqualified from driving for three years after his release.

Noormohammed was given an 18-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work and was disqualified from driving for 18 months.

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