Drug-driver jailed for killing man as he crossed road
A DRIVER has been jailed after fatally injuring a pedestrian and speeding away from the scene while high on drugs.
Matthew Bravender, who had spent the previous night taking cocaine, was driving at 51mph in a 30mph zone when he hit Alan Strong.
The incident happened while Mr Strong had been crossing Littleton Road, Salford, on April 30 last year.
Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard how Bravender tried to drive around Mr Strong, who was crossing the road, rather than brake after spotting him.
Justin Hayhoe, prosecuting, said tests had shown that Bravender would have been able to stop in time to avoid hitting him.
Mr Strong, who was due to celebrate his 53rd birthday the following day, was conscious and talking to people who came to his assistance after the crash but died in hospital about two hours later.
Bravender, 27, of Deepdale Drive, Pendlebury, Salford, did not stop and fled in his car to his mother’s house, before he was arrested hours later.
The court heard he was initially arrested on suspicion of murder, but he later pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed drug-drive limit, as well separate counts of failing to stop and drug-driving. He was sentenced to five years and four months in prison, and banned from driving for five years following his release. The court heard Mr Strong, who was single and unemployed at the time of his death, had met with friends earlier that day and had decided to go out for a walk. In a statement issued after his death, his family described the 52-year-old as ‘kind and generous, especially to those in need.’ Bravender, who had a friend in the passenger seat, decided to have his car cleaned ahead of taking his partner of seven years out for a meal to celebrate her birthday. In a victim impact statement read out by Mr Hayhoe, Mr Strong’s mother Norma said the day will be ‘printed on my memory until the day I die.’ Darren Preston, defending, said Bravender, who worked as a lighting engineer, had taken cocaine the night before the incident. He said Bravender, whose partner gave birth last month, is remorseful and admitted he ‘panicked’ after the crash. Mr Preston said: “This court often sees cold people who do not care about what they have done. Defence lawyer Darren Preston They don’t care about the effect on their family, friends or victims
“Matthew Bravender isn’t like that. He is deeply affected by what he has done.
“There’s no apology that he can offer which is anywhere near good enough, but he is deeply regretful for what he did.”