Drink-driver killed dad-of-nine after 5am whiskey binge
A WANNABE pilot driving three times the speed limit wiped out a dad-ofnine while nearly twice over the legal alcohol limit.
Tarnjeet Multani stooped his head and sobbed as his victim’s grieving family remembered their ‘iconic’ father, 59-year-old Kishore Kumar Gill, who was hit by the 21-year-old’s hatchback as he crossed Greenford Road, in Ealing, on his way to work at 5.30am on February 15, 2022.
After four moving statements from Mr Gill’s children, Multani, of Park Avenue, Southall, hung his head in shame as he was jailed for nine years at the Old Bailey on Monday, April 29.
Mr Gill’s second eldest son, David Brown, said his ‘loving’ father had been taken away, just as they were rebuilding their relationship, due to Multani’s ‘inability to see the consequences of his actions’.
Another son, Aaron Patel, described his chilling memories from the mortuary. “When I saw him he did not look like the man we knew. The damage done was so horrific; his teeth were gone, his face was swollen. He was hit so hard his leg was detached from his body. To see him like this will forever be the last memory I have of him. No one should have to see their parents like this,” Mr Patel wrote.
One of Mr Gill’s daughters described the moment she found out about her dad’s death, saying: “The shock sent an uncontrollable dread through my body and I felt displaced.”
The court heard how Multani had been drinking at a funeral on February 14 when he bought a litre bottle of whiskey and drove to the Greenford Road recycling centre to wait for a group of friends to finish work.
After 2am the fivesome drank and listened to music by the car until around 5am, before Multani, by now nearly twice over the legal limit, offered to take his friend home.
Traffic on the residential single carriageway was light, but there were pedestrians on their way to work at the recycling centre. One of those had to run out the way as he heard Multani’s grey Volkswagen Polo racing towards him. Seven seconds later, doing between 58 to 78mph in a 20mph zone, Multani smashed into Mr Gill, amputating his leg and ending his life.
Multani, who was aged 19 at the time, carried on for around 280m before attempting a three point turn to see what he had struck. He would later tell the jury he did not know he had run someone over. He also told the jury he thought the street was a 30mph zone, despite claiming to be a regular user of the road and having admitted to police he knew it was a 20.
He also lied to police about what he had drunk, telling them he had a small amount of whiskey at 3pm the day before and another dram at 9pm. At the trial he told the jury he drank whiskey at 9pm, 2am, and 3.30am, but this still failed to account for a blood alcohol level of between 64-96mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, nearly twice the legal limit of 35mg when taken at the lower end.
Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker said the alcohol level, even take at the lowest end, was an aggravating feature of the case. She also highlighted the presence of another passenger, and the fact Multani had been sleep deprived, with only one hour of sleep the night before. She called the court to give zero credit for Multani’s guilty plea because he failed to admit the most serious charge.
Defence counsel Gordon Ross argued his client was ‘not a callous person’ who had tried to cover up his actions, and pointed to his previous good character as he called for the shortest possible sentence. He also highlighted the probation report’s findings that the offence occurred at a time of ‘emotional difficulty’ for Multani.
Multani always denied causing death by dangerous driving, but pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit ahead of his trial.
This lesser plea was not accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service and he was convicted by a jury – who heard ‘clear and compelling’ evidence – after a trial at the Old Bailey on March 22 this year.
In his sentence, the Common Serjeant of London Richard Marks KC hit out at Multani’s lies to the jury about his knowledge of the speed limit, and cast doubt over what he admitted to jurors about his alcohol consumption.
Jailing him for nine years for dangerous driving, with a concurrent sentence of seven years for careless driving, Judge Marks said: “Whilst I accept there are many worse cases of dangerous driving, this is, in my view, a serious offence.”
Multani is also banned from driving for six years from his release.