KILLER DRIVER CHATTED ON HIS MOBILE WHILE BIKER DIED IN THE ROAD

A career criminal who ploughed into a biker and chatted on his phone as the man lay dying in the road is facing jail.

Darren February, 32, was racing along at up to 58mph on the wrong side of the road when he smashed into Kenneth Baldwin, 51, in Holland Park, west London.

February then returned to the car to remove evidence linking him to the vehicle before making a call on his mobile as his victim lay dying on the pavement.

He was tearing along St Ann’s Road in his ex-girlfriend’s Vauxhall Astra when he hit Mr Baldwin’s Honda ST 1100 head-on in the early hours of December 14 last year.

Mr Baldwin hit the windscreen of the car and was left lying on the pavement.

February was caught on CCTV getting out of the Astra and walking away chatting on his mobile phone, before returning to remove items from the car.

‘The defendant showed little regard to the man lying on the pavement,’ said prosecutor Louis French.

‘On the contrary he walked back to the car and retrieved some property and then a resident who had heard the crash saw him jogging off.’

The CCTV footage showed February having a conversation with a rubbish collector before removing the evidence, the court heard.

‘All this time he is still neglecting the deceased,’ said Mr French.

The phone he was seen using was never recovered, the court heard.

Mr Baldwin, a lorry driver who has an 11-year-old daughter, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics at 5:29am but police could not trace the driver.

February was arrested a day later after he was caught stealing from a telephone kiosk.

He gave the name Robert Fagan and was taken to Holborn police station where his fingerprints were taken.

February was then linked to the fatal hit-and-run accident and denied he was the Astra driver.

PC Richard Clark, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, told the court February had been driving between 34 and 58mph on the wrong side of the road.

Members of Mr Baldwin’s family were in court to watch CCTV footage of the crash.

A victim impact statement was read out in court from Meryl Sadler-Baldwin, Mr Balwin’s ex partner of 18 years.

She said: ‘I am having nightmares, so many emotions and feelings of guilt.

‘Knowing he is gone I do not want to be around anyone anymore.

‘The news of Ken’s death devastated me and I cannot accept it has happened.

‘I miss Ken so much.

‘Our daughter had been texting and writing to Ken asking him to come home.

‘Prison is too good for the person that did this.

‘He has taken Ken away and he can live.’

‘If he had gone to Ken he might of saved him.’

February has an appalling criminal record dating back to when he was 12 for offences which includes burglary, assault and theft.

He was convicted of failing to report a car accident in Portobello Road and was jailed for six months in 2007.

February was also involved in a road traffic collision while disqualified in July 2006 after he crashed into a bollard and ran off.

He was sentenced to four years in prison in 2013 for assault, affray, criminal damage and a number of thefts.

At the time of the fatal crash he was on licence and has since been recalled to prison.

Judge Peter Testar said: ‘I am sure that this is not a simple case of a momentary lapse of concentration and a man leaning down to change the radio.

‘I am sure there was worse driving than that lead to this collision.

‘The defendant must be given the opportunity to give evidence.’

February, of Octavia House, North Kensington, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and causing death while driving uninsured.

He pleaded not guilty to aggravated vehicle taking and the charge was left to lie on the file.

February will be sentenced tomorrow at Southwark Crown Court.
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