PEART: JAIL FOR HIT AND RUN KILLER WHO KNOCKED DOWN COBBLER

A hit-and-run driver who sped off after killing a pedestrian while overtaking a bus on the wrong side of the road was jailed for eight years.

Father-of-two Pragji Chudasama, 63, died in hospital two days later after his family were told he could not recover from his injuries, including brain damage, and agreed to turn off his life support.

The specialist cobbler, who made footwear for theatres, had been travelling to buy leather in London’s East End when he was struck while crossing Balls Pond Road, Hackney, at a set of traffic lights at around 12.25pm on February 16.

Witnesses told police that Mr Chudasama, from Wembley, was thrown on to the bonnet and windscreen of the car before somersaulting through the air and hitting a lamppost at the side of the road.

Kelvin Peart, 29, ‘panicked’ following the crash, jumping a red light and staying in the wrong lane until being forced to swerve back in to avoid a head-on collision with another bus, Blackfriars Crown Court heard.

He later abandoned the Vauxhall Astra before being traced to his home address in Leyton, east London, barely an hour after the crash.

His girlfriend initially told police he was not home, with Peart appearing at the door only after officers threatened to force their way in.

Smoking a cannabis joint, he told them ‘it was only a knock.’

‘It was just an accident – I was going to hand myself in,’ he added.

In a subsequent police interview, he refused to answer questions about the crash.

Peart, who had been buying a car seat for one of his two young children, was jailed for eight years and disqualified from driving for five years after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

As the sentence was passed, he broke down in tears, yelling: ‘I can’t do it your honour! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!’

Judge David Martineau told him that his licence period – during which criminals can be recalled to prison without a trial – would be extended to 13 years because he was a ‘risk to the public’.

He said: ‘In my view this defendant is dangerous and he does pose a serious risk; I regard him as a significant risk.

‘No sentence of a court can ever compensate the family of a deceased person for his death.

‘I do find however that this tragic death was caused by a deliberate decision by you which necessarily involved an apparent disregard for the great danger caused to others – especially pedestrians.

‘You appear not to have even been aware of the presence of the deceased until the moment of impact; how this could be, I simply do not know.’

The court heard that Peart smokes cannabis daily, but had not done so prior to the crash.

His criminal record includes offences of shoplifting, possessing an offensive weapon, threatening behaviour and possessing heroin with intent to supply.

In 2003 he was handed a six-year jail term after convicted of taking part in an armed car hijacking.

Janice Johnson, defending, said Peart had ‘accepted full responsibility’ for his actions.

‘He is extremely sorry for what happened,’ she said.

‘He took a chance, which was a terrible and desperate chance, and tells me that he did not see Mr Chudasama – he was putting his foot down because he knew he was doing something wrong.’

‘When he drove away he was panicking, but he didn’t think he had caused such serious injuries.’

In a handwritten letter to the judge, Peart wrote: ‘I wish I never made such a big error in judgement and didn’t act so cowardly when I should have made an effort to help.’

Peart of 250 Murchison Road, Leyton, east London, pleaded guilty to one count of causing death by dangerous driving.

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