‘I have forgiven him’
A father from Bradford, whose son was tragically killed in a car crash over 18 months ago, says he does not want to see any more lives wasted ahead of sentencing next month.
Amjad Malik watched on as the driver of the car, Syed Khan, 19, was found guilty of death by dangerous driving at Bradford Crown Court last week, and remanded in custody prior to sentencing on 7th April.
In September 2014, fifteen-year-old Saliq Malik died after the car Khan had been driving collided with a wall and street sign on Gilpin Street, Barkerend.
The jury heard how Khan had fled the scene following the incident, with a police accident investigator saying he had ‘simply lost control because he was going too fast’.
Saliq was taken to hospital where he died of his injuries later that day.
Mr Malik says his whole family have already ‘been handed a life sentence’ because of their son’s death and he does not wish the same on any other parent.
“No parent wants someone’s child to go to prison,” he said. “We just wish a guilty plea had been entered earlier because this whole case could have been over in a couple of months.
“The forgiveness is there on our behalf. It was a mistake what happened that day. Nobody was meant to be hurt but it turned out to be Saliq’s time to go from this earth.”
He added: “We don’t want a long sentence to be handed out here but sometimes you have to face the consequences.
“We will never truly move on from what has happened.”
Khan was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving after a second boy, Haris Khan, 15, suffered a fractured elbow and pelvis.
Judge Jonathan Rose confirmed that a jail sentence was inevitable.
“You have taken the life of a young man and caused serious injuries to another in a piece of dangerous driving in a vehicle that – by your own admission – you were simply not capable of driving,” he said.
Since the incident, Mr Malik has set up his own drive awareness project – Consequences Of Reckless Driving (CORD).
He plans on teaching young people about the impact Saliq’s death has had on his family so that they become safer drivers on the road.
“People need to learn from our story,” Mr Malik said. “There is so much we still don’t know about Saliq’s death. What his last words were or what was happening to him.”
Four other men were all cleared by the jury at Bradford Crown Court after being charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
