Brothers, 10 and 2, killed in horror crash by drivers racing at ‘catastrophically high speeds’ in ‘sheer act of madness’
TWO young brothers were killed when two driver raced along a busy road in a “sheer act of madness”, a court has heard.
Sanjay Singh, 10, and his two-year-old brother Pawanveer “died instantly” when one of the cars smashed into their mum’s BMW in Wolverhampton, West Midlands.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday that Mohammed Sullaiman Khan and Hamza Shahid were travelling at “catastrophically high speeds” at the time of the collision.
Khan’s Audi A3 struck the family’s car, giving mum Arathi Nahar “no chance” of avoiding the deadly crash.
Shahid had managed to stop his Bentley just seconds earlier after braking “sharply” at a red light, the court heard.
Witnesses spotted Khan and Shahid “driving like lunatics” in the lead up to the tragedy.
The young family were travelling home from picking up some fish and chips from the restaurant where Arathi’s husband worked at around 8.45pm on March 14, 2019.
The impact from the smash hurled the car into a set of metal railings, killing the two boys inside, while their mum, fortunately, survived her severe injuries.
One witness said: “Both vehicles were driven dangerously, erratically like lunatics, clearly racing each other.”
Prosecutors claimed that both men were responsible for the tragedy and alleged they had plotted to “cover up” their actions.
They claimed that Shahid had failed to call the emergency services, while some of the pair’s family and friends were involved in a plan to mislead authorities.
Hundreds turned out for the boy’s funeral, with tearful mourners laying floral tributes as the procession passed.
Shahid denies two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Khan admitted those charges, but denies perverting the course of justice.
Three others, Mohammed Asim Khan, Mohammed Adil Khan and Rashane Henry all deny perverting the course of justice.
A sixth defendant, Tejinder Singh, successfully applied for his case to be severed from the other mens’ on the grounds that he is suffering from a “serious illness” that would prevent him from participating in this trial.
He will be tried at a later date which is still to be confirmed.