Walter Burke, 63, of Worthington Road, Lichfield was on his way to a morning job when he ploughed into 59-year-old Jasbir Singh on Birmingham’s city centre ring road
A man who stumbled into the middle of the road while intoxicated was killed by a private hire driver, a court has heard.
Walter Burke was on his way to a morning job when he ploughed into 59-year-old Jasbir Singh on part of Birmingham’s city centre ring road, Birmingham Live reports.
He was not speeding or driving recklessly in his SEAT Toledo, the hearing was told, but visibility was good and other motorists had managed to avoid the pedestrian.
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In a dramatic courtroom moment a judge counted to five to demonstrate to the courtroom just how long he had to take evasive action.
Burke, 63, of Worthington Road, Lichfield was found guilty after trial of causing death by careless driving. However he was spared jail at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, March 12.
He was instead banned from driving for five years although he has already stopped driving voluntarily since the collision, which was said to have had a profound impact on him.
The incident dated back to October 21, 2023 when at just before 5.30am Mr Singh was walking on the A4540 Boulton Middleway.
Omar Majid, prosecuting, said the pedestrian was ‘intoxicated’ and that by way of comparison his alcohol blood level was twice the legal drink-drive limit, even though he was not behind the wheel himself.
He told the court the road was wet but there was ‘good visibility’ due to street lighting and the fact the road was ‘essentially straight’.
Mr Majid said two other drivers noticed Mr Singh as they approached the roundabout.
He added: “It was noticeable they had no difficulty taking evasive action, braking and moving into a different lane despite their visibility being much worse that it would have been for this defendant.”
CCTV captured what happened next as Burke, driving his SEAT, approached in lane two.
Mr Majid continued: “He drove straight ahead with Mr Singh in the same lane moving from lane three to lane two. While the defendant’s brake lights came on he didn’t slow down or take evasive action whatsoever.
“The only movements was after the collision, a flinch reaction to the collision moving into lane three. The defendant noticeably slowed down after the collision but didn’t stop.”
Burke left the ring road at the roundabout and parked on Hospital Lane nearby. Other drivers pulled up at the scene and alerted emergency services.
Burke later claimed he did not realise he had hit anyone and believed someone had thrown a brick at his windscreen. Mr Majid said he was doing 29 to 32mph at the time of the collision on the 30mph route.
Burke gave no comment in his police interview but claimed at trial he did not see Mr Singh at any point and could not explain why. Mr Majid conceded the victim ‘contributed’ to the incident by being in the road, adding he was ‘vulnerable’ due to his level of intoxication.
A key consideration for determining Burke’s length of sentence was whether his actions amounted to a ‘momentary lapse of concentration’. A collision expert calculated Burke had a 7.6 second window to see Mr Singh.
Judge Peter Cooke said: “Let’s say five seconds. Just think about being at the wheel of a car doing 30mph and not paying attention for one…. two… three… four… five. Is that momentary?”
Joey Kwong, defending, contended it was. He said: “He is deeply distressed about the incident. He expresses remorse and repeatedly states he is sorry. He maintains the collision was an accident.
“He didn’t see the victim at the time. It stops short of accepting responsibility but he does demonstrate emotional acknowledgement of the harm caused. He has stopped driving since the incident despite it being his livelihood.”
Mr Kwong said Burke no longer left his house, ‘suffers in silence’ and was on sleeping medication as well as antidepressants. Judge Cooke, passing sentence, said there was ‘absolutely no excuse’ for his failure to see Mr Singh in the road.
He concluded the victim ‘created a hazard’ which meant other drivers, including Burke, had a duty to ‘take proper care’.
He said the case was nearly so serious that he would have to send Burke to jail to ‘mark the fact of a fatality’, but he ruled he could suspend imprisonment by ‘the narrowest of margins’.
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