No jail for driver who killed his best friend

A GLODWICK medical student who is suffering “deep remorse” after killing his best friend in a tragic car accident, has been spared jail.

Mohammed Adriece (23), of Greengate Street, was attempting to overtake another vehicle at 45mph on Oldham Road, Miles Platting, when his Volkswagen Golf careered out of control and smashed into a bus.

One of his passengers, aspiring lawyer Asam Zulqurnain (pictured), of Frederick Street, Werneth, suffered fatal injuries in the accident.

A second passenger, Zahid Shakoor, suffered serious injuries after he rocketed through the rear window of the car and landed yards down the street.

In January, a jury at Manchester Crown Court failed to reach a verdict on a charge of causing death by dangerous driving.

Adriece then admitted a lesser charge of causing death by careless driving.

The fifth-year medical student’s conviction means that the General Medical Council will have to decide if he can pursue his chosen career in a fitness to practise hearing.

Judge Anthony Gee QC — who sentenced Liverpool university student Adriece to 250 hours’ unpaid work and an 18-month driving ban — said the case was “exceptional.”

Earlier, Robert Kearney, prosecuting, said Mr Zulqurnain’s devastated family bore no ill will towards the defendant.

Adriece had been driving three friends to Oldham when the accident happened at Oldham Road’s junction with Varley Street, Miles Platting, on March 1, 2009.

A Jeep Cherokee started to drift out of the left-hand lane without indicating just as Adriece was trying to overtake it — forcing him to steer right to avoid crashing with it. He then had to steer sharply left as he clipped a traffic island, before steering in the other direction again to avoid mounting the kerb.

The sequence of manoeuvres sent the fully-laden car into a fatal spin, before slamming into a bus.

Mr Kearney said Asam Zulqurnain took the full force of the impact and even if he had been wearing a seatbelt would still have died.

Zahid Shakoor, who also was not wearing a seatbelt, suffered fractured skull, broken ribs, and a spinal injury, but has since made a good recovery.

Sentencing, Judge Gee told Adriece: “You live daily with the knowledge of what you have done, which I’m certain is a real punishment for you and will be for very many years to come, if not for ever.”