Thief who killed immigrant chef with stolen car jailed for five years
A car thief who killed a man after hitting him with a stolen vehicle was yesterday jailed for five years and three months.
Unemployed Declan Mayes, 21, lost control of a Peugeot 207 even before he fatally struck pedestrian Lionel Simenya.
DNA evidence helped link Mayes – who has previous convictions for vehicle theft, housebreaking, assault and driving while banned – to the crash in Saughton, Edinburgh, that killed Mr Simenya, a chef originally from Burundi.
A judge told Mayes at the High Court in Edinburgh that victim impact statements provided from Mr Simenya’s family were heartbreaking.
Lady Scott said the information before her showed he was a hard-working man with his whole life ahead of him.
The victim had pursued associates of Mayes, who had tampered with his van.
The judge told Mayes: “I have to consider the aggravating factors and these are significant here – the fact that at the time you were driving a stolen car and driving while uninsured.”
She said the father-of-one had “a significant record” for such offending.
But the judge said she also took account of his age and that he panicked during “a fast-moving event”.
Lady Scott told Mayes she would have jailed him for seven years but for his guilty pleas. She also banned him from driving for eight years and seven months.
Mayes, of Hay Avenue, Edinburgh, earlier admitted causing the death of Mr Simenya, 35, on 7 March this year by driving dangerously at the city’s Fords Road.
He lost control of the Peugeot, mounted a kerb and struck bushes and a fence before continuing to drive the damaged car and failed to avoid Mr Simenya, who was on the road, after failing to pay proper attention to the road ahead.
Mays also admitted breaking into Fair Deal Autos, in Fords Road, and stealing a key safe and keys and stealing the Peugeot. He also pled guilty to causing the victim’s death by driving at a time when he was uninsured.
Mr Simenya arrived in Scotland in 2011 and trained as a chef.
His chef’s knives and work clothes were among personal possessions found in his van in which he was temporarily living.
PICTURE; LISA FERGUSON