Two men jailed over deadly crash after speeding BMW ploughed into and killed boy, 8, while he crossed the road
TWO men have been jailed over a deadly crash after a speeding BMW killed an eight-year-old boy as he crossed the road.
Safiullah Asif was mowed down by the car in a residential street in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester, while he played with his brother and cousin.
Kevin Jones, 36, was jailed for four years eight months and Thomas McGrath, 24, was jailed for the same amount of time, for causing death by dangerous driving.
Safiullah was found unresponsive at the scene and was rushed to the A&E department at Manchester Royal Infirmary with multiple bleeds to the brain and fractures.
The young lad tragically died the following evening on July 24 2020.
Appearing before Bolton Crown Court today, Jones and McGrath were both told they will also be disqualified from driving for five years upon their release from prison.
Read More in News
Witnesses described seeing two cars travelling very fast down Ryecroft Street just before the collision, with one thinking they were treating the road as a “race-track”.
Another had shouted for the vehicles to “slow down” as they flew around the bend, after he felt they were travelling too fast – and too close to each other.
The same witness reported a load bang before he saw a small child lying “motionless in the road.”
The driver of the BMW, Jones, stopped after the accident, but McGrath failed to stop.
Most read in The Sun
Cops at the scene discovered that Jones was driving without insurance, on an expired provisional driving licence.
A Forensic Collision Reconstruction Report was carried out, which showed that Jones was speeding at approximately 50mph in a 20mph zone, and McGrath at an average speed of between 42 and 48mph.
PC Adam Scott of the Specialist Operations Roads Policing Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: “First of all, our thoughts remain with the family of Saffiullah Latif Asif, who grieve and miss their son every single day.
“We are pleased with today’s result, and we hope that this goes some way to help Saffiullah’s family, knowing that both Jones and McGrath are off the streets and cannot hurt anyone else.
“This was an extremely serious road traffic collision, and we would urge everyone to adhere to speed limits and behave in a responsible way on the roads. As this case has shown, standards of driving like this result in the loss of lives and in this case, a young boy’s life.
“These standards will not be tolerated by Greater Manchester Police and we will vigorously target these offenders.”
Speaking after the sentencing, Saffiullah’s father said: “Myself, my wife and our whole family are very grateful to the police and the Prosecution Service, who have worked hard to get this case to court, and for all the support we have received from our Family Liaison Officer.
“I want to thank the witnesses who came forward and the community for being a great support. I am content with the sentencing today. We have lost Saffiullah and he will never come back but I am pleased that we have finally got some justice.
“Please can we ask that our privacy is respected so we can grieve for the loss of our son.”