Businessman ‘drag racing Audi’ before tragic crash

PROPERTY COMPANY BOSS DENIES CAUSING DEATH BY DANGEROUS DRIVING OF GREAT-GRANDAD, 89

A BUSINESSMAN has gone on trial accused of causing the death of an 89-year-old great-grandfather while ‘drag racing’ a high-powered Audi in south Manchester.

Mudasser Rasool, who owns a property company, is charged with causing the death of Frederick Petts by dangerous driving. He has pleaded not guilty.

A Manchester Crown Court trial yesterday heard how Mr Petts was driving his Vauxhall Astra along Errwood Road in Burnage at around 1.15pm on July 27 last year, to visit his daughter when Mr Rasool, 35, was travelling in the opposite direction.

The defendant’s car had been blocked in at work so he decided to use his business partner’s Audi RS4, jurors heard, while he visited some properties with his 17-year-old nephew in the front passenger seat.

Mr Petts stopped his car on Errwood Road in preparation to turn right onto his daughter’s road.

Opening the case for the prosecution, David James said Mr Rasool began to accelerate the car at an ‘incredible rate,’ reaching speeds ‘more akin to the motorway’ than a residential 30mph zone.

One witness said they saw the Audi wobbling from side to side, ‘as if the driver was struggling to control the vehicle,’ and another said they heard its engine ‘roar.’ The prosecution says Mr Rasool’s car moved onto the wrong side of the road before the two cars crashed head-on.

CCTV footage played in court showed the Astra being pushed backwards 30 metres, and the Audi continuing 25 metres before hitting a lamp-post and rolling over.

Mr Petts was taken to hospital but was declared dead at 2.05pm.

Mr Rasool and his passenger were not seriously hurt, and the defendant went over to Mr Petts’ car to check on him before being arrested.

The court heard that tests show Mr Rasool was travelling at about 56mph before the crash, which he accepts.

Mr James said Mr Rasool was travelling at speeds ‘akin to drag racing.’

“He was drag racing. He was trying to see what this high-powered vehicle could do on Errwood Road and was using that straight road,” the barrister said.

Mr James said the defendant ‘put his foot down and see whatever speed he could reach.’ “It would have been obvious to a careful and considerate driver that driving in that way would be dangerous,” he added.

The court heard Mr Rasool is expected to say that he was trying to move around Mr Petts’ car, and that he thought the Astra was going to turn without stopping.

Mr Rasool, of Stockport Road, Levenshulme, accepts being the driver of the car but denies causing death by dangerous driving. Proceeding