They deserved much better than to be left dying in the road
COUPLE OF 60 YEARS WERE ON WAY TO DINNER
A couple who had been married almost 60 years had their lives cut short by a speeding MoT tester.
Grandparents Ann and Lawrence Nickerson were going for dinner in Newcastle to try to cheer themselves up after finding out their son’s cancer had returned and was terminal, when tragedy struck.
The 30mph Jesmond Road dual carriageway appeared to be safe to cross although the lights were still showing green to traffic.
However, Asif Hussain, in a sporty and modified Vauxhall Corsa VXR, was going too fast to avoid hitting them and knocked the couple over.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that as Mrs Nickerson, 75 and Mr Nickerson, 80, lay dying in the carriageway, Hussain didn’t even stop.
For that he was branded a “monster” and “callous” in a series of victim impact statements from family and friends of the Nickersons.
Daughter Hayley said her parents, who lived in Heaton, were also her best friends and they had worked together in the family business.
Fighting back tears, Hayley told the court: “This was utterly shocking, like a bad dream.
“They were wonderful, kind, loving and supportive through all our trials and tribulations. The suddenness of their death is the hardest thing to deal with. We have been robbed of the chance to say goodbye and to hold their hands and care for them like they always cared for us. They deserved so much better than to be left dying in the middle of the road. His actions are callous and we are appalled.”
Hayley also read a statement on behalf of Linda Noble, who grew up with Mrs Nickerson and described her as “my beautiful gentle sister”.
She branded Hussain a “monster” for driving off and “leaving these two wonderful people lying in the road”.
Nigel Nickerson said he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer two days before the fatal collision.
Nigel told the court: “I feel like the backbone of my entire family has been cruelly ripped away and the shoulders of my parents are no longer there to cry on.”
He added: “I don’t wish for my parents to be remembered just for this tragedy.
“I want them to be remembered for the truly special, loving, caring people they were.”
It was a rainy night just before 7.20pm on Saturday, November 23 2019 that the couple were heading to the Santana Italian restaurant in Jesmond for dinner.
Hussain was driving at between 39 and 40mph when he struck them on the westbound carriageway.
The court heard that if Hussain had been travelling at or below the speed limit, he would have had time to stop and avoid hitting the pensioners.
He handed himself in the next day and told police where he had abandoned his car.
He had low levels of the active ingredient of cannabis in his system but was not intoxicated by it and said he consumed it days earlier.
The Corsa had been fitted with a “dump valve” and silicone hoses before he bought it, modifications which rendered his insurance void.
Hussain told police he was on his way home from a friend’s home in Heaton at the time and was “devastated” at what happened but fled because he was scared.
He had been disqualified from driving in 2016 under the totting up procedure and was convicted of driving while disqualified and having no insurance in May 2017.
Hussain, 23, of Wingrove Gardens, Fenham, Newcastle, who had been working as an MoT tester at his dad’s garage, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless driving, two of causing death by driving while uninsured, possessing cannabis, failing to report an accident and failing to stop after an accident.
Judge Tim Gittins jailed him for two years and banned him from driving for three years after he is released.
Christopher Knox, defending, said: “His has sorrow, regret and apologises for causing the death of these two very kind and perfectly innocent people.”
Mr Knox added that he accepts full responsibility for what happened and hopes the Nickerson family may be able to forgive him in time.