Lorry driver killed boy, 7, in broken down car while daydreaming about holidays

Christopher Mallett, 34, started a four year jail sentence today for causing Mohammed Ali Ahmed’s death by dangerous driving on March 20 last year.

His mind wandered as he thought about going away to Egypt before the crash, and he didn’t notice the silver Toyota Rav 4 which was stationary at the side of the A4146 dual carriageway in Stoke Hammond, Buckinghamshire.

The crown court judge who heard the case today said that after Mallett’s trial he drove the same route and said: ‘I cannot understand how anybody cannot have seen that vehicle.’

 Prosecutors said the lorry driver would have had a clear view for 20 seconds before he ploughed into the car at 57mph.

A jury found him guilty of dangerous driving after he had previously admitted careless driving.

They heard that the car’s driver, Mohammed’s aunt Sajida Parveen who was also badly injured in the crash and had to spend 11 days in hospital, had to pull over when the clutch failed.

There was no hard shoulder and after they stopped, the family stayed in the car with hazard lights on because they thought it was safer due to the amount of traffic passing.

When Mallett’s DAF truck hit them from behind, the car was crushed and sent spinning through a wooden fence and hedge. Expert evidence suggested none of the family was wearing seat belts.

 Defending the professional lorry driver, Michael Hayton QC said that although he might have first seen the car from 400 metres away, he may not have realised it was standing still or moving very slowly until he was 100 metres away, when he would have had four seconds to react.

He said there was no evidence Mallett was on the phone.

Giving evidence, the defendant told jurors he was ‘in a bubble’ daydreaming.

Halfway through the trial, judge Francis Sheridan halted proceeding to ask if he wanted to change his plea to guilty, but he declined.

Before his sentencing at Aylesbury Crown Court today, Mallett handed in a letter he wanted to give to Mohammed’s family describing how sorry he was.

Judge Sheridan said today: ‘He did not look where he was going. What was he doing? I suspect Mohammed Ali’s family came to the trial hoping for an answer. They leave with no answer.

‘They don’t know; neither does the court, for the simple reason the defendant told the court he was in a bubble, thinking of a family holiday in Egypt. He couldn’t even be sure of that.’

 The judge added: ‘He’s otherwise a perfectly decent, hard working driver. He has a young family who have suffered, but nothing to the same extent as Mohammed Ali’s family.’

Mallett was also disqualified from driving for three and a half years and must take an extended test before he can drive again.

Source: http://metro.co.uk/ by: Jen Mills photo: INS