Telford Go Carz manslaughter case: Jury out to consider verdict
A judge has told a jury they must decide if the death of a taxi driver in Telford was a tragic accident or manslaughter.
The jury in the trial of two men charged with causing the death of the driver have retired to consider their verdict.
Telford Go Carz driver Ishfaq Hussain, 51, died after his car struck a tree following a chase.
He was punched and kicked in the face during a confrontation minutes before the Skoda crashed, killing him on August 7 last year, a court heard.
Defendants Brandon Dowen, 19, and John Cox, 32, are accused of his manslaughter.
They allegedly pursued the taxi driver, who had a heart condition, in a Peugeot along Ironbridge Road and confronted him when he pulled over twice. Moments after the second confrontation the taxi veered off the road.
Summing up the case Judge Michael Chambers QC said Mr Hussain suffered multiple injuries as a result of the crash and died at the scene. Taxi passenger Kallum Hislop, survived the collision, which happened at about 10.30pm.
Stafford Crown Court heard that the catalyst for the whole incident was when the taxi driver stopped to ask Dowen’s girlfriend for directions while she waited for the two defendants to pick her up minutes earlier.
Judge Chambers said the girlfriend was upset as she said Mr Hussain made a “sexually suggestive comment”, and due to an alleged “previous bad experience” she swore at him.
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He said Mr Hussain continued his journey and found Mr Hislop, his next passenger, who got in the car and witnessed what happened next.
The taxi was near the Tesco store when the Peugeot with Cox at the wheel caught up with the it. Dowen, of Park Street, Madeley, shouted at Mr Hussain while Cox got out and yanked the rear wiper off the taxi. Mr Hussain drove off, but he was followed at speed and pulled over a second time.
The jury heard that despite him apologising repeatedly Dowen, who accepts that he acted unlawfully, punched and kicked him. The bricklayer told the jury that the taxi driver grabbed him during the altercation and he was acting in self-defence.
Judge Chambers also said Mr Hussain was taking medication and living an active family life.
He told the jury: “From the evidence you can’t say with certainty that that he suffered a cardiac event, but you can’t rule it out due to his history. The defence say that he drove off and the road traffic collision as tragic as it was had nothing to do with what happened a few minutes before.”
He added that a post mortem found that Mr Hussain would have still been alive at the time of the crash, but it was not possible to say if he was conscious.
Mr Hislop told the police that after the second confrontation Mr Hussain continued to drive at speed, but did not speak and he could not see his face.
Dowen, of Park Street, Madeley, Telford, and Cox, 32, of Harrowby Road, Wolverhampton, deny manslaughter.
The trial continues.
