2 men convicted of killing Indian-origin brothers in UK road crash

PTI

London, September 18

Two men have been convicted by a UK court over a horrific road collision which claimed the lives of Indian-origin brothers, 10-year-old Sanjay and 23-month-old Pawanveer Singh, in Wolverhampton four years ago.

Mohammed Sullaiman Khan, 27, from Edgbaston in the West Midlands region of England admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, and one count of causing serious injury during a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court last week he further admitted perverting the course of justice.

Mohammed Asim Khan, 35, from Birmingham was found guilty of perverting the course of justice for lying to police in connection with the case.

“Our duty was to Sanjay and Pawanveer and to their family, who have been so brave throughout,” said Detective Constable (DC) Karl Davies from the West Midlands Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit, who led the enquiries.

“It is awful, almost beyond words, for two young brothers to be killed in such a dreadful collision,” he said.

Sanjay and Pawanveer died after the car they were in with their mother was hit by a high-powered Audi on Birmingham New Road in Wolverhampton in March 2019.

The court heard that the Audi driver, Mohammed Sullaiman Khan, reached speeds of 90mph before he went through a red light and hit the BMW the boys were in with their mother.

According to the police, the brothers were in their pyjamas as they were heading home after collecting their dinner from a fish restaurant where their father worked.

“Both boys suffered catastrophic injuries and were sadly pronounced dead at the scene. Their mother Arithi Nahar suffered serious injuries,” the police statement said.

The boys’ parents issued a statement following the trial last week to express their gratitude to the police and to say that they miss their children “terribly”.

“Sanjay attended Cotwall End Primary School, Sedgley, where they have made a sunshine garden. This garden has provided a safe, secure place where our family and friends can visit. It’s there where we feel at peace after the sad loss of both of our sons,” they said in a statement released through West Midlands Police.

“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,” they said.

Sullaiman Khan fled the scene of the crash on the night and was later spotted in a burger bar on CCTV, looking uncomfortable from the impact of the collision.

The police said that at some point a plan was hatched to cover up his involvement and his brother, Mohammed Asim Khan, made a call to say Sullaiman Khan’s car had been taken in a car-key burglary earlier that day.

Khan was found guilty of perverting the course of justice for lying to police about this fake burglary. The duo will be sentenced at a later date.