Lorry driver spared jail over peer’s mobility scooter death
A LORRY driver who knocked a veteran Labour peer off his mobility scooter and killed him has avoided jail.
Lord Taylor of Blackburn was on a zebra crossing outside the House of Lords when Kul Pandey hit him. The 87-year-old died in hospital days later from severe head injuries.
Ex-Gurkha Pandey, 56, overshot a Give Way sign in the dark and rain in November 2016, the old Bailey heard. Judge Anuja Dhir QC accepted he showed “genuine remorse”. Pandey, 56, of Feltham, West London, admitted causing death by careless driving and got a 24-week suspended sentence, plus 200 hours’ community service and a three-year ban. The judge said: “The size of the vehicle you were driving and the weather conditions should have meant that you were even more careful than you would normally be. You were not.”