A UK court has issued convictions in a tragic road collision case that resulted in the loss of the lives of two Indian-origin brothers, 10-year-old Sanjay and 23-month-old Pawanveer Singh, in Wolverhampton four years ago.
Mohammed Sulaiman Khan, aged 27 and residing in Edgbaston in the West Midlands region of England, admitted to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of causing serious injury during a trial held at Wolverhampton Crown Court last week. He also confessed to perverting the course of justice.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Asim Khan, aged 35 and from Birmingham, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice by providing false information to the police regarding the case.
Detective Constable (DC) Karl Davies from the West Midlands Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit, who led the investigation, stated, "Our duty was to Sanjay and Pawanveer and to their family, who have been so brave throughout. It is awful, almost beyond words, for two young brothers to be killed in such a dreadful collision."
Sanjay and Pawanveer tragically lost their lives when the car they were travelling in, along with their mother, was struck by a high-powered Audi on Birmingham New Road in Wolverhampton in March 2019.
During the court proceedings, it was revealed that the Audi driver, Mohammed Sulaiman Khan, had reached speeds of up to 90mph before running a red light and colliding with the BMW that the boys and their mother were in.
According to the police, the brothers were in their pyjamas as they were returning home after picking up dinner from a fish restaurant where their father was employed.
The police statement indicated, "Both boys suffered catastrophic injuries and were sadly pronounced dead at the scene. Their mother, Arithi Nahar, suffered serious injuries."
The parents of the boys released a statement following the trial to express their gratitude to the police and convey their deep grief. They mentioned that they miss their children terribly and shared that Sanjay had attended Cotwall End Primary School, Sedgley, where a "sunshine garden" had been created in his memory. This garden serves as a place of solace for family and friends.
The statement from the parents continued, "We as parents of Sanjay and Pawanveer miss them terribly, we will never see them grow up into teenagers and then later as adults. We have been robbed of that. Our boys were taken away in a blink of an eye on 14 March 2019. The day that our lives and our home died too. With the support of our family, friends, loved ones, colleagues, and professionals like Victim Support and Edwards Trust, we have developed a new way of living again with this constant pain and bleed in our hearts."
Sulaiman Khan left the scene of the accident on the night it occurred and was later captured on CCTV at a burger bar, displaying signs of discomfort due to the collision's impact.
The police investigation revealed that a plan was concocted to cover up his involvement, and his brother, Mohammed Asim Khan, made a phone call to report that Sulaiman Khan's car had been stolen in a car-key burglary earlier that day. As a result, Mohammed Asim Khan was found guilty of perverting the course of justice by providing false information to the police about this fictitious burglary.
Both individuals will be sentenced at a later date.
