When is daddy coming home?
LITTLE GIRL’S HEARTBREAKING QUESTION AFTER HER FATHER IS KILLED IN SPEEDING CAR TRAGEDY
THE young daughter of a Derby man who was killed in a collision outside his own front door keeps asking when her daddy is coming home.
Vilnis Vancans, 35, died instantly from head injuries when a Mini Cooper being driven at 11mph over the 30mph limit by Adeel Khan struck him.
Khan, 28, of Normanton, has now been jailed for 10 months.
THE young daughter of a Derby man who was killed in a collision outside his own front door keeps asking when her daddy is coming home.
The youngster, aged just four at the time her father Vilnis Vancans was hit by a speeding driver, has had to move from their home with her family because the memories of what happened are so painful.
Derby Crown Court heard the 35-year-old victim died instantly from head injuries when a Mini Cooper being driven at 11mph over the 30mph limit by Adeel Khan struck him.
Khan, however, claimed to attending police officers that he was “doing about 25mph”.
Now the 28-year-old defendant, of Normanton, has been jailed for 10 months.
Judge Robert Egbuna said: “You were 25 years of age when you caused the death of Mr Vancans and blighted the lives of the Vancans’ family. It is clear you did not set out that day to cause the death of Mr Vancans.
“When you told the police officer you were driving at 25mph you would have been aware it was really well in excess of the 30mph speed limit.
“If ever there is an illustration as to why people should abide by the speed limit this is the clearest case of all.”
Daren Samat, prosecuting, said the incident happened directly outside Mr Vancans’ front door in Arundel Street, at 9.39pm on May 10, 2019.
He said no-one witnessed the incident, but it was caught on a CCTV system belonging to a local business in the same street.
Mr Samat said: “Neighbours in the street heard the noise from the collision.
“One said she went out and saw Mr Vancans lying in the road. She said he was in a bad way and as people gathered she heard the defendant say, ‘it was me, I hit him, he just came from nowhere.’
“Police arrived and he told them he had been to his girlfriend’s and was driving home when a man ran out between the cars and ran towards him.”
Mr Samat said Khan was tested and produced negative results for both drink and drugs and in police interview told officers he believed he was driving at “around 25mph”.
But Mr Samat said accident investigation experts concluded that the speed in reality was in the region of 41mph. Mr Samat said: “The prosecution say it should have been obvious driving at that speed a fatality could occur.”
Khan, of Cambridge Street, had pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving at an earlier hearing.
He has previous convictions including for dangerous driving and violent disorder.
Chudi Grant, mitigating, said his client worked full-time as a carer and supported his disabled mother who would suffer if he was sent to immediate custody. He said three months after the accident Khan approached the Derby Telegraph, which published an article about him helping feed the homeless in the city during the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha.
Mr Grant said: “He did not appreciate the speed he was doing but there’s no evidence of sustained speeding in the build-up. These proceedings and the death he has caused have had an effect on him that will remain with him for life.”
As well as the jail sentence, Judge Egbuna disqualified Khan from driving for two years.
If ever there is an illustration as to why people should abide by the speed limit this is the clearest case of all.
Judge Robert Egbuna