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Speeding driver who caused death of taxi passenger in Leicester jailedhttps://www.hellorayo.co.uk/hits-radio/ ... ester-taxiA speeding driver who caused the death of a taxi passenger who had been out celebrating her 60th birthday has been jailed.
Grandmother Donna Brighton was thrown into the road through the open window of a taxi and died at the scene in Glenfield Road, Leicester, on the evening of September 16 2023.
Brother and sister Steve and Andrea Sidsaff, who were also passengers in the back of the vehicle, were seriously injured in the collision, Leicester Crown Court heard.
Thomas Goulty, 36, drank two lagers before he drove his silver Vauxhall Astra 64mph in a residential 30mph limit area before crashing into 69-year-old Sarwar Mohammad’s Peugeot Expert Tepee taxi.
Goulty, of Aikman Avenue, Leicester, was sentenced on Friday to two years in prison after admitting causing Mrs Brighton’s death and causing serious injuries to the other passengers by careless driving.
Mohammad, of Willow Brook Road, Leicester, who had been driving the taxi and admitted the same offences, was handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and told he must do 100 hours of unpaid work.
Opening the facts of the crash, prosecutor Steven Bailey said Mrs Brighton did not know the Sidsaffs, who had come to Leicester for the Radio 2 in the Park music festival, but they shared a taxi because they were going in the same direction.
Mrs Brighton, who was from the city, had been out with her friends celebrating her 60th birthday, the court heard.
Mr Bailey said: “The collision which caused the death of Donna Brighton and serious injuries to Steve and Andrea Sidsaff happened just before half past eight on the evening of September 16 2023 at the junction between Glenfield Road and Westfield Road, just west of Leicester city centre.”
The prosecutor said the collision happened as a result of the “combined bad driving of Thomas Goulty and Sarwar Mohammad”, while the taxi was making a right turn towards Westfield Road across the central reservation of the dual carriageway.
The court heard Goulty had been out in the city and sent someone a message minutes before the crash saying he was “just out having a couple of beers”.
The court heard that a roadside test immediately after the crash tested positive for alcohol in his breath, but later assessments could not conclude that he was over the driving limit.
Mr Bailey said Goulty’s speed was “excessive”, up to 64mph on approach and 55mph at the point of impact.
The prosecutor added: “He had left himself little or no calculation time and any braking was far too late.
“He drove too quickly for the road and its conditions, about twice the speed limit, having taken alcohol and in the dark.”
Mr Bailey said: “Mr Mohammad was of course a professional driver, familiar with the area.
“On the evidence, Mrs Brighton was helping him with directions as to where to turn and when to turn.
“There’s the possibility, subject to Your Honour’s view, that Mr Mohammad allowed himself to become distracted.”
The court heard Mohammad was driving lawfully at 25mph in the 30mph zone before he slowed to 8mph to carry out the right-hand turn, but Mr Bailey said “crucially he did not come to a stop fully”.
The prosecutor added: “He did not maximise his chances of avoiding the collision which, in fact, happened.”
Mr Bailey told the court, which was packed with family members of the victims and defendants, that the crash to the left rear side of the taxi caused both vehicles to spin, adding: “As a result of that impact and the rotation, Mrs Brighton was thrown out of the taxi through the open window into the road.”
The court heard Mrs Brighton suffered fatal head and chest injuries while the other two passengers suffered serious injuries, including several fractured bones.
Barristers for both defendants told the court they are remorseful about what happened.
Sentencing the defendants, Recorder Jacob Hallam KC said: “You took Donna Brighton’s life, and the people who loved her are still paying the price of that today, and you caused the Sidsaffs, as I have said, terrible injuries.”
He added: “Donna Brighton was, it’s clear, an amazing and unique woman. She was kind, she was thoughtful and she was generous, and it’s clear that she put others always before herself.”
Goulty has been disqualified from driving for five years and must take an extended retest, while Mohammad was disqualified for two years but will not need to take an extended retest.