Jail for 110mph driver who killed man on crossing
ABANNED driver has been jailed for 10 years after killing a father-of-three on a pedestrian crossing while fleeing police at speeds of up to 110mph.
Connor McCaugherty, 23, admitted causing the death of Dil Bahadur Subedi minutes after police abandoned a high-speed pursuit because of his erratic and dangerous driving.
Moments before the fatal collision he had switched off his lights, jumped a red light and was travelling at 90mph.
McCaugherty killed the 45-yearold family man while he was subject to a suspended sentence and on bail for an earlier high-speed chase.
Mr Subedi, a chef, was crossing Belgrave Middleway at 11.30pm on March 26 when he was hit by a green Ford Mondeo which failed to stop at the scene. The car was later discovered burnt out near Sovereign Heights, in Rubery. A witness claimed he heard the driver walking away laughing.
McCaugherty, of no fixed address, admitted causing death by dangerous driving at Birmingham Crown Court. He also admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice by setting fire to the Mondeo.
Birmingham Crown Court heard just a day after the crash he had stolen another car during a test drive and was arrested by police on March 31. He went on to assault police officers and custody staff.
He had also been involved in an earlier 10-mile police pursuit in December driving a Rover 25, which saw him hit speeds of 80mph in a 20mph area. He crashed into multiple cars during the dangerous 15-minute chase through Kingstanding, Erdington, Aston, Birmingham city centre and Digbeth.
At one point he mounted the pavement, forcing pedestrians to jump out of the way before being arrested and bailed. Chillingly, one victim warned it would only be “a matter of time” before McCaugherty killed somebody.
Prosecutor Tariq Shahoor said McCaugherty had stolen the Mondeo on March 17 before later killing Mr Subedi from Bordesley Green in the March 26 crash.
He said: “Police spotted the stolen car travelling at speed through Erdington’s Perry Common Road. They attempt to stop the car, but it didn’t stop and instead jumped red lights on Short Heath Road.
“He then travelled on the wrong side of the road and entered Erdington’s Six Ways island on the wrong side.”
The court heard that he hit speeds of 110mph on the Aston Expressway with police forced to drive at 126mph just to keep up. Officers abandoned the pursuit when the car went through a red light moments before striking Mr Subedi.
McCaugherty had switched off his lights and was estimated to be driving at 90mph when he hit Mr Subedi. The impact threw the victim 30-feet in the air, leaving him with fatal injuries.
The court heard McCaugherty had 13 previous convictions for 27 different offences, including theft, burglary, possession of an offensive weapon, robbery, assaults and driving offences.
In jailing McCaugherty for 10 years and banning him from driving for 11-and-a-half, Judge Mark Wall QC said he had thrown the Subedi family’s lives into total “disarray and sadness”.