IN THE NEWS
SPEEDING DRIVER TRIED TO BLAME SALFORD CABBIE, WILLIAM WELSH, FOR HIS OWN DEATH
A speeding Audi driver who caused a private hire driver’s death has been slammed for trying to shift the blame onto his victim. Krishan Patel, 24, was doing more than twice the speed limit on Trafford Road, in Ordsall, Salford, when he hit a Renault Megane in 2020. The Megane’s driver, William Welsh, 46, suffered multiple injuries and died two days later. Patel was convicted by a jury of causing death by
dangerous
driving following a trial at Manchester Crown Court. Prosecuting, Brian Berlyne earlier said that just after 9am on September 10, 2020, Mr Welsh was driving with no passengers along the duel carriageway, which has a 30mph limit. He moved into a filter lane to turn right onto Phoebe Street. “As Mr Welsh began to approach the junction, danger was approaching from the opposite direction,” Mr Berlyne added. As Patel approached the junction, Mr Welsh appeared in the opposite direction, preparing to turn right. “Mr Welsh began to make that right turn and [Patel] was driving so fast he was unable to stop on time. Mr Patel collided with Mr Welsh’s vehicle,” Mr Berlyne said. Mr Welsh was thrown from the car into the road. Patel, who was initially trapped in his car, was able to get out. He stayed at the scene. PC Paul Terry, a forensic collision investigator, concluded Patel was driving at 65mph - more than twice the speed limit. There were
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no mechanical faults with either vehicle, he said. Mr Welsh’s seatbelt was fastened, but he was sitting on top of it at the time, the court heard. In a statement read to the court, Mr Welsh’s partner Rachel Palmer wrote: “My babe. That’s what we called each other. “Our daughters, Logan and Chloe, were ready to leave home and start a new chapter in their lives. Myself and William were so proud. This meant it was our time to start a chapter we were both looking forward to - growing older with each other. “William was only 46, and had lots to look forward to. He went to work as normal and as a result of Krishan Patel, he never came home. “He always said it was a skill to drive 30mph. Idiotic people drive too fast, William paid the price and he never came home.” Mr Welsh’s sister, Jane Welsh, said: “I’m so thankful that William didn’t have any passengers in his car. “To the world, William was a 46- year-old taxi driver. His friends, colleagues and customers, and those in Salford knew him as‘Welshy’ - the friendly, cheeky, gentle giant.”
Patel has no previous convictions on his record. Mitigating, David Birrell accepted his client was driving at ‘greatly excessive speed’, but claimed that because the incident happened during a Covid lockdown, the roads were quieter and the ‘risk was reduced’. “The mitigating factors, in our submission, are that William Welsh did contribute significantly to both the collision and the death,” he said. “There was the manoeuvre, and most important, the seatbelt. It is no exaggeration the outcome would have been different.” In response, Judge Elizabeth Nicholls said: “There wouldn’t have needed to be an outcome if the collision hadn’t occurred.” Mr Birrell added that his client was ‘hardworking and studious’’ and had to drop out of university as a result. Sentencing, Judge Nicholls said: “Had you been driving at the correct speed, this collision would not have happened. There are speed limits in place for a reason, so we can avoid collisions such as this. “I wonder, if a child had run into the road, would you have sought to blame them as you blamed Mr Welsh? “It is tragic he was not wearing a seatbelt, not that that killed him - it was the collision at speed that killed him.” Patel, from Preston, was jailed for four years and six months. He was also banned from driving for seven years and three months.
AUGUST 2023 PHTM
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