Driver jumped red light to kill schoolboy in front of his father

A university student who mowed down and killed a 11-year-old schoolboy as his horrified father looked on is facing jail.

Bilal Dar, 24, jumped a red light and ploughed into Aaron Matharu in his black VW Polo seconds after the lad popped out to pick his father up something to eat.

Aaron, a year seven pupil at Cranford Community College, was hit after he stepped off a traffic island in nearby Bath Road, Hounslow, when he was hit at 5.45pm on 30 September 2016.

Passers-by and other motorists gave him emergency CPR in a desperate attempt to save his life before paramedics arrived, but Aaron died in hospital later that evening.

‘Cruelly, the only person who witnessed the collision itself was Aaron’s father, Kuli Matharu,’ said prosecutor Robert Forrest.

‘By chance he looked over towards the junction from his bedroom window shortly after his son left to see how he was getting on.

‘He saw the moment of impact but could not see how this defendant drove before the collision.’

CCTV footage showed Dar had been driving at speeds of up to 54mph on the 40mph dual-carriageway moments before the accident.

The Old Bailey heard he jumped a red light shortly before the island Aaron had been standing on which left him no time to stop.

He admitted causing death by dangerous driving on what was scheduled to be the first day of his trial.

In a victim impact statement Mr Mathura set out the ‘devastating’ effect of Aaron’s death on their family.

‘Aaron was my world, my pride and joy,’ he said.

Mr Mathura said that he lost his job as a delivery driver due to the amount of time he had to take off work whilst grieving.

His wife could not bear accompanying him to court where she would have to listen to how he died, he added.

‘This is a tragic case,’ said Mr Forrest.

‘In the early evening of 30 September 2016, an 11-year-old boy named Aaron Matharu was out doing an errand for his father when he was struck by a car as he stepped out to cross the road near his home.

‘He suffered extensive injuries in that collision and despite the best efforts of passers-by, paramedics who attended the scene and doctors he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.’

Dar stopped immediately and remained at the scene.

A subsequent investigation into the smash revealed he had sped through a red light shortly before the traffic island.

‘The prosecution case is that the first set of traffic lights were red when the defendant travelled through them,’ continued Mr Forrest.

‘It appears from the evidence collected that the traffic lights at the second set were in fact green.

‘The phasing is slightly out, but it is the first set the prosecution are concerned with.’

He added: ‘At the time the ATS that we are dealing with turned amber, Mr Dar’s vehicle was 78-80 meters away from the stop line and it was 22-26 meters away from the stop line when it turned red.

‘The stopping distance from 40-42mph is between 32-57 meters, which is significantly less than the distance Mr Dar’s car was from the ATS when it first turned amber.

‘If Mr Dar had been paying attention and if he had been observing the rules of the road he would have been able to stop in very good time.’

The court heard that Aaron would have been faced with a red man as he stepped off the pavement.

But he would also have had sight of the red light on the east-bound carriageway and assumed it was safe to cross seeing as nothing else was coming from the side road.

He ‘could not have anticipated’ Dar jumping the preceding red light moments earlier, the prosecutor said.

Mr Forrest explained that Aaron had been to school that day before heading to the primary school where his mother worked and getting a lift home by his father.

At home, he got changed and chatted with a relative in India over the phone as Mr Matharu got ready for work.

Whilst doing so, Mr Matharu asked Aaron to nip out to get him some food from a local takeaway he had visited in the past.

‘Aaron was happy to oblige,’ continued Mr Forrest.

‘After about a minute or so, Mr Matharu looked out of his bedroom window and within a second or so he saw the terrible sight of his son being struck by a vehicle which was travelling westbound of Bath Road.

‘Mr Matharu saw the car hit Aaron’s legs and throw him up in the air.

‘His father said he saw his son flipped over like a ragdoll.’

The delivery driver ran outside ‘as fast as he could’ and fellow drivers pulled over to tend to the stricken youngster.

After a few minutes he shouted out demanding to know who had been driving.

Dar stepped forward ‘shaking like a leaf’, pleading: ‘He ran out, he just ran out.’

Following his arrest at the scene Dar told police: ‘I was driving along Bath Road towards the traffic lights.

‘The light changed from green to orange. I was going a bit fast.

‘A kid ran from my right side into the road. I tried to brake but I was too close.’

The ‘very upset and shocked’ university student begged: ‘I just need to know he’s ok.’

But Aaron had suffered multiple serious and ultimately fatal injuries in the collision and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at hospital.

‘Mr Dar accepted colliding with Aaron,’ said Mr Forrest.

‘He said that he didn’t see Aaron until it was too late.’

Dar had earlier driven home from Reading University where he is still studying computer science.

He had been on his way to work at a courier firm in Colnbrook at the time of the collision.

Defending, Robert Harding, said Dar was ‘probably the most meek and mild defendant’ he has ever represented.

He added that the remorse he showed at the scene has continued and described the ‘monumental impact’ it has had on his life.

Judge Anthony Leonard QC warned Dar to be ‘under no illusions’ that the ‘inevitable sentence will be one of custody’ when granting an adjournment for him to produce references for the court to consider.

Dar, or St Leonard’s Gardens, Hounslow, Middlesex, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was bailed ahead of sentence on 28 June.
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