Driver caged over hit-and-run death

Henry Brandon Barker

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AN UNINSURED hit-and-run driver who knocked down and killed an 11-year old boy as he left a prayer session at his local mosque, has been jailed for seven years.

Henry Barker (20), from Failsworth, was told his speed had been "grossly excessive" in a 20mph zone, he had paid no regard to the safety of pedestrians, and in cowardly fashion he failed to stop.

Sentencing him at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, Judge Mark Savill said: "It was a deliberate piece of bad driving in my view."

He added: "You were to some degree enjoying the speed you reached, if not showing off."

Aaron Ward (23), who was one of three passengers in the Mercedes A-Class hire car, was sentenced to 14 months after pleading guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting Barker to cause the death of the boy while uninsured.

He was given a further four months consecutive, for breaching a suspended sentence imposed by magistrates less than a month before the tragedy on Monday, February 29, for driving while disqualified and without insurance.

Judge Savill told both men: "Nothing I can say, or any sentence I can pass, will ever make amends for this, or release his family and friends from the appalling restraints of grief and loss your behaviour has consigned them to, probably for the rest of their lives."

Barker, of Hampton Road, Failsworth, was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving after a trial lasting almost a week.

Barker had earlier pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of causing death by careless driving, and driving dangerously as he fled the scene.

The trial jury had been told that Barker had been driving the powerful hire car at speeds of between 40, and almost 44mph just before he hit Shahzaib Hussain as he stepped out in front of him in Moss Street West, Ashton-under-Lyne, after leaving the Hamza Mosque with his father and uncles.

Judge Savill said CCTV footage which graphically showed the moment of impact, made "grim and devastating" viewing.

The judge said a statement made by the boy's father Javid Hussain, who was said to be too unwell to attend the sentencing hearing, was "simply heartbreaking."

Mr Hussain recalled that as prayers had ended at the mosque on the fateful afternoon, he had affectionately patted his son's head. "He looked up and smiled at me" he said. "I will remember that smile for the rest of my life."

The court had earlier heard that Barker, who on a previous occasion had been spoken to by police officers about his speed while driving, had been aware he had hit someone, but after braking briefly, had accelerated away.

In his panic to escape, he went the wrong way round a mini-roundabout forcing a woman driver to swerve out of his way, overtook cars on the wrong side of the road, and recklessly drove through traffic lights on red.

He handed himself in to police the following day after a media appeal when news of the tragedy was reported.

The court was told by Michael Morley, prosecuting, that there was no suggestion Barker had been drinking, though he did test positive to having had cocaine at some point.

The court heard the case had underlying tragedies including the fact Barker's grandfather is terminally ill, and his partner is pregnant with their child.

The court heard that Aaron Ward, of Hattersley Road West, Hattersley and two other male passengers in the Mercedes, later passed the scene of the accident in a taxi on their way home.

The driver remarked on seeing emergency vehicles, and one of the three commented: "Someone must have left a candle burning in the mosque."

Barker maintained during his trial that he had been asked by Ward who had borrowed the rental car, if he had wanted to drive it, claiming he had not deliberately been speeding, not seen the 20mph limit signs, and saying he could have done nothing to avoid the fatal collision.

Barker has been disqualified from driving for eight years. Meanwhile, Ward was banned from the roads for four years.

Ward, who claimed he had simply borrowed the keys to the vehicle but not driven it, was told he should have been nowhere near the vehicle on the day.

Judge Savill told him: "You have a terrible record including convictions for dangerous driving, and driving while disqualified."

Police Constable Phil Turley, of Greater Manchester Police's serious collision investigation unit, said: "The reckless actions of Barker and Ward caused the tragic death of Shahzaib, which is an irreparable pain his family will never recover from.

"Today's sentencing is a small piece of triumph for Shahzaib's family, who have not only been grieving their son but have been put through a gruelling time to get justice for their son."