Jail for speeding dentist who killed pedestrian

Muzaffar Mir had been driving his BMW at speeds of about 90mph on the 40mph road

A dentist who struck and killed a pedestrian while driving at more than twice the speed limit has been jailed for six years.

Muzaffar Mir, 33, hit 26-year-old Joshua Wilson with his heavily modified BMW M2 on the A647 Stanningley bypass in Leeds.

The victim had just got off a bus and was on his way to visit his step grandfather when he was killed, Leeds Crown Court heard.

A sentencing hearing was told that Mir, who had previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, had been travelling at about 90mph (144km/h) on the 40mph (64km/h) road at the time.

The court was told that Mir had been travelling at a "grossly excessive" speed along the outside lane of the three-lane stretch of the dual carriageway over a half-mile stretch immediately before the incident on 11 April 2022.

A second man, 35-year-old Aamir Khan of Grove Road in Shipley, has denied a charge of dangerous driving in relation to the incident and is due to stand trial in June 2027.

The prosecution said that while the two men had not been racing, "they were showing off to each other".

CCTV footage played to the court showed Mr Wilson getting off a bus, crossing the westbound carriageway and arriving at the central reservation, before stepping out onto the eastbound side of the road.

Joshua Wilson was killed after he got off a bus to visit his step grandfather

The court was told he paused momentarily, before throwing his left hand in the air, at which point he was hit by Mir's car.

He suffered what were described at "catastrophic injuries" and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A victim impact statement read on behalf of Mr Wilson's mother, Deborah Kennedy, told how she "felt robbed" of the opportunity to have rebuilt a relationship with her son.

She said: "It feels like I've lost part of my heart. The grief of his death has not left me."

The court heard how a neighbour of the surgery where Mir had worked had previously complained to his workplace about his driving, after seeing his BMW parked there.

Mir, of Merton Avenue in Farsley, stopped at the scene of the crash, but after his arrest initially gave the police a prepared statement in which he said he had not driven dangerously. He refused to answer any further questions.

However, in mitigation, Richard Wright KC, said Mir had pleaded guilty in court at the earliest opportunity and felt "genuine remorse" for his crime.

Jailing him, His Honour Judge Richard Mansell said: "Joshua will never have a chance to pursue a career, marry, or bring a child into the world, all of which you have done.

"You have the opportunity to piece together your broken life when you are released. He will not."

Speaking after Mir was jailed, Det Sgt Paul Lightowler, of the police's Major Collision and Enquiry Team, said: "Joshua's death was a tragedy for his family and friends, and we welcome Mir's sentencing at court for the dreadful driving which caused it."