Father-of-two killed by a speeding driver

STEVE PICKERING

A DRIVER who knocked down and killed a man crossing the road in Oldham had been travelling at about 50mph in a 30mph zone, a court was told.

Imran Hussain (27) should have had time to avoid a collision, but his speed, coupled with lack of attention, made it impossible.

Father-of-two Steve Pickering was thrown into the air and was taken unconscious to the Royal Oldham Hospital, where he died from head injuries.

Mr Pickering (59), a long-standing member and former captain of Brookdale Golf Club in Failsworth, had just got off a tram and was on his way home after an evening out on December 4, 2015.

Sentencing Hussain at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, Judge Angela Nield told him: "It makes no difference, in some ways, what sentence I impose, it will not bring Mr Pickering back or recompense for his loss.

"You have recognised what those moments of carelessness have cost, and you will always live with the memory of that night. It devastated his family and very badly damaged your own."

Judge Nield said she had had to consider whether a prison sentence could be suspended.

She told Hussain, who pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving, however: "In this case, it is my view that the speed at which you were travelling, coupled with a period of inattention, takes this into the highest category of careless driving."

She jailed him for eight months, telling him he must serve up to half the term, and the remainder on licence.

Hussain, of Napier Street, Oldham, had been sitting in the dock with his head bowed throughout the sentencing hearing, and the public benches were packed with members of both families.

Mr Pickering's daughter Rebecca read a statement to the court. She said: "It is impossible to portray the devastation of his actions. The one thing that gives me some relief in this nightmare is that the last words I said to Dad were "I love you."

Members of the family had been critical of the fact that Hussain had left the country shortly after the tragic accident to visit Mecca with his wife and parents, which caused a delay in Mr Pickering's body being released by the coroner.

The court was told, however, it had been a long-planned pilgrimage which went ahead with the consent of the police, and it went on to become a period of atonement for devout Muslim Hussain.

The court had been told the accident happened at 10.20pm on December 4 as Mr Pickering crossed Manchester Road near to the Hollins Road junction. Although dark, the area was well lit.

A taxi driver witness, waiting to turn right, said he heard Hussain's Honda Jazz vehicle pass him at speed, then heard a bang and screeching brakes.

Another witness said the vehicle in which she was sitting "rocked" as Hussain's Honda went past.

Henry Blackshaw, defending, said his client had been married only four months before the tragedy and the trip to Mecca had been planned instead of a traditional honeymoon.

He said: "It was in no way intended to cause more difficulty and grief for Mr Pickering's family. It was not foreseen that it would cause problems with the coroner, and affect their grieving process."

He said Hussain visited the scene of the tragedy every month to pay his respects, and had vowed never to get behind the wheel of a car again.

In a statement to police he said: "There is not a day goes by that I don't think of Mr Pickering and his family."

The court was told Hussain had no previous convictions, and had thought at the time he was driving in accordance with conditions on the road. He now accepted his speed was inappropriate.