A shortsighted taxi driver who hit a pedestrian and left him for dead thought he had hit a sheep because he was not wearing his glasses, a court heard today.
Father-to-be Jack Brandon, 22, had been walking home from a wedding reception along New Road between Ditchling and Clayton when he was hit by Abul Hussain’s taxi.
CCTV in the taxi showed Hussain, 55, was not wearing his glasses at the time of the collision, shortly before 1am on Sunday, 3 July 2022.
The following morning, Mr Brandon’s family found him dead at the side of the road.
Three days after the collision, Hussain’s Peugeot Horizon was found on his driveway in Stapley Road, Hove, with extensive damage to the front.
When arrested, police asked Hussain to take a roadside sight test, which showed he could not read a numberplate at 5m – a quarter of the 20m distance required by the DVLA.
At interview, Hussain, who now lives in Downside, Shoreham, said he thought he had hit a sheep or a deer.
He was charged with failing to stop, failing to report an accident and alternative charges of dangerous and careless driving. He denies the charges and his trial started this morning at Brighton Magistrates Court.
Prosecuting, Piers Restell said: “Jack Brandon was walking west, to the side of the carriageway with his back to traffic.
“He was struck from behind by a vehicle which did not stop.
“Jack Brandon didn’t return home and as you would expect various family members through the night and the following morning were concerned.
“They went out and found him deceased by the side of the road.”
Mr Restell said Hussain had passed Mr Brandon once already when the collision happened, a few minutes earlier when he was driving in the opposite direction.
He said the defence will argue that the road layout, lack of light, Mr Brandon’s dark clothing and the fact he was not walking towards oncoming traffic meant a collision would have happened even if Hussain was wearing his glasses and driving well.
The trial continues.
The defence are seeking to blame the victim, rather than the driver of over a ton of steel. Even if he thought he’d hit a sheep or a deer he should have stopped.
No excuse. If you manage to hit something, anything, stop.
The outcome for the victim in this case may have been less devastating if they received emergency medical help.
Omg shocking and a taxi should get top sentence accident waiting to happen I thought it was illegal to drive without glasses if you need them and again a taxi imagine if he’d killed passengers as well ..if they don’t give a big sentence it will be so wrong
Appalling.. the young man might have been saved if he’d had prompt attention.
Saying he thought the victim to be an animal is shocking and disgraceful.
Seems Hussain has no remorse whatsoever.
More generally, my experience with taxis are that if careless drivers, exceeding the speed limit on a regular basis, driving aggressively, and to a low standard, despite them technically being vocational drivers.
Operation Crackdown, the reporting service, doesn’t get enough credit for the work it does in educating drivers.
Disgusting, yes the road is dark but it’s not over grown. You can easily tell the difference between a person walking and a deer, especially a sheep! Just sounds like desperate excuses to me, most people would report if they hit something, unless they knew they were in the wrong! He knew he hit that man and didn’t report it because he knew he’d be in trouble.
I’ll defer to your expertise of hitting various wildlife and people to know if they feel different, my friend.