A salesman who killed a grieving father-of-two after crashing into him at 83mph in a 30mph zone has been jailed, with the judge telling him ‘you have orphaned his children’.
Jonathan Langston, 52, died in the crash which occurred one year after his wife Helen passed away from cancer. Their funerals were held on the same date, one year apart.
Driving at an ‘extraordinary’ speed, Adeel Safdar reached 93mph shortly before the collision in Manchester, where a 30mph speed limit applies, a court heard.
Manchester Crown Court was told that Mr Langston was ‘finally starting to come to terms’ with the loss of his wife before his ‘unnecessary and pointless’ death.
Sentencing Safdar, the judge said ‘you have in effect orphaned his children’.
Jonathan Langston, 52, (pictured) died in the crash which occurred one year after his wife Helen passed away from cancer. Their funerals were held on the same date, one year apart
Driving at an ‘extraordinary’ speed, Adeel Safdar (pictured) reached 93mph shortly before the collision in Manchester, where a 30mph speed limit applies, a court heard
Safdar, from Stretford, Greater Manchester, had been watching The Apprentice at a friend’s house when he got behind the wheel of his VW Golf just after midnight on March 17 last year.
Mr Langston, who worked at an IT consultant, had spent the evening with this friends in Chorlton in Manchester when he was walking home.
CCTV footage showed Safdar using a right turn only lane to overtake another vehicle.
After overtaking, he continued to accelerate. 100 metres before the crash, he had reached 93mph, and at the time of the collision he was driving at speeds of at least 83mph, the court was told.
Mr Langston was crossing the road and if Safdar had been driving safely, he could have reached the other side ‘without incident’, prosecutor David James said.
However, he was hit and died instantly from the ‘catastrophic’ injuries.
The driver didn’t stop at the scene initially, but returned shortly after.
He later told police: ‘It’s the worst thing I could ever do, I have caused death,’ the Manchester Evening news reported.
Admitting to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving, Safdar was sentenced to eight years in prison yesterday, and will serve around five years and four months.
The court heard statements from Mr Langston’s children, family and friends in an emotional hearing.
His brother addressed Safdar in the hearing and said: ‘No sentence will be long enough to pay for the suffering he had caused and is still causing our family’.
Ella, one of Mr Langston’s children, was at university when her father died. She described to the court that it was like waking up to a ‘nightmare’. She added that he was the ‘rock’ that held everyone together.
His other daughter, Georgia, said their father had been ‘terrified’ of leaving them alone following their mother’s death and had given up smoking.
Safdar’s sentence was reduced for his remorse and ‘good character’ and he was also banned from driving for 10 years and four months at Manchester Crown Court
His friends paid tribute in court to his ‘warmth’, ‘selfless nature’ and ‘strength’, saying he was an inspiration.
Redmond Traynor, Safdar’s lawyer, said he ‘cannot explain’ why he decided to speed on that night and he is a ‘hard-working’ man and the main breadwinner for his family.
Sentencing Safdar, Judge Nicholas Dean KC said: ‘You know what you have done, you have expressed remorse for it. It may be very difficult indeed for Jonathan Langston’s family to accept that you have expressed remorse, and hard for them to accept that is something I must take into account, but I must, and I will.
‘You drove at extraordinary speeds, described by the police to the family of Jonathan Langston as motorway speeds, but they would be excessive speeds for the motorway. What possessed you to do what you did is hard to fathom.’
Safdar’s sentence was reduced for his remorse and ‘good character’ and he was also banned from driving for 10 years and four months.
After the sentencing, Mr Langston’s family said: ‘Whilst the day itself has provided some closure to our family, we can’t help but feel disappointed and let down by the shortness of the sentence.
‘Although it is true that no time spent would be long enough, it was shocking to hear that the driver would only spend just over five years in prison for his horrific actions.
‘As a family we will now try and move on together, living in his memory.’
Detective Constable Sarah Seddon, from GMP’s Serious Collison Investigation Unit, said: ‘Firstly I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Jonathan Langston.
‘Not only did Adeel overtake another vehicle in a lane that was supposed to be a right hand only turn, he continued to increase his speed following this manoeuvre, reaching over three times the posted speed limit and subsequently colliding with Mr Langston, who was on his way home after having some drinks with friends earlier in the evening.
‘Hopefully this sentence can form as some sort of closure to the victim’s family and Safdar can reflect on his actions.’
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