A DRIVER who left an 83-year-old pedestrian for dead only days before Christmas and then lied about the accident has been jailed for four years.
Brian Durham was walking home with a friend after an evening playing dominoes at Parkstone Working Men’s Club in Coventry.
Mr Durham was crossing Foleshill Road, when he was hit by a car which failed to stop.
Emergency services were called, but Mr Durham was pronounced dead a short time after.
Minutes after Mr Durham died, driver Parminder Bagri, age 28, called police to report damage to his Vauxhall Golf.
He claimed someone had thrown items at his windscreen while he was driving.
Police went to Bagri’s home the following morning to investigate his call and noticed plastic sheet taped across the windscreen and damage to a headlight and bumper.
He was arrested for causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of the accident, which happened at around 10pm on December 21 last year.
Bagri’s car was recovered and forensically examined, where a bag of cannabis was found.
At Birmingham Crown Court yesterday (August 15), Bagri of Exhall Green, Coventry, admitted causing death by dangerous driving, perverting the course of justice and possession of a class B drug.
Sergeant Alan Wood, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “Our thoughts remain with the family of Mr Durham, who sadly died after a night out with friends.
“I hope that Bagri takes this time to reflect on the devastating consequences that his dangerous driving has caused.
“Failing to stop and offer assistance at the scene of the collision and then creating a fictitious report to the police were the actions of a coward.”
