Three years for cop who killed young mum

A Met Police officer who killed a young mum while speeding through a busy street at nearly three times the speed limit has been jailed for three years.

Nail technician Shante Daniel-Folkes, 25, was struck by a car driven by PC Nadeem Patel, 28, in Stockwell Road, Brixton, southwest London, late on 9 June 2021.

He was driving at 80mph in a 30mph speed limit as he responded to an emergency call, the Old Bailey heard.

Paramedics rushed to the scene but were unable to save Ms Daniel-Folkes, who had a two-year-old son, after the collision in Brixton, southwest London.

PC Patel admitted causing the death of the former Croydon College student by dangerous driving and was jailed for three years in February.

Details of his case can now be published following the trial of his colleague PC Gary Thomson, 31, who was accused of dangerous driving in the lead up to the fatal smash.

PC Thomson was driving another police car which passed Ms Daniel-Folkes just ahead of PC Patel at up to 71mph.

He told the court he thought his speed as he passed Ms Daniel-Folkes and a cyclist was ‘safe and proportionate’.

PC Thomson was cleared by an Old Bailey of dangerous driving but convicted of the lesser offence of careless driving. Thomson was fined £500 and ordered to pay £500 in costs.

Ms Daniel-Folkes’ mother Janine Daniel had wept in court as she read her victim impact statement with her daughter Kesha Daniel by her side.

She said: ‘Shante was my youngest child. She was my princess, that’s what I called her.

‘Anyone who knew her would say she always had a smile on her face. She had the biggest smile.

‘She was beautiful inside and out. She was kind, funny, loving and very creative.

‘She did fashion design, she was an artist and had become a certified nail technician.

‘She was looking forward to opening her own salon and looking after her son, who she adored.

‘I struggle to think about the night she died when the police knocked on my door.

‘You hope it never happens to you, but it happened to me and in reality the feeling is a million times worse.

‘To hear those words “I’m sorry, she passed away” is something that will haunt me forever.

‘It felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest and I remember falling to my knees and could have died on the spot.

‘PC Patel does not know what he has done to me. I am broken, my heart is aching. I am being tortured everyday by the way her life was cruelly taken away because of his stupidity.

‘He robbed my grandson of his mum. He has autism and doesn’t know anything about death.

‘He thinks his mother has abandoned him and when the phone rings he thinks it’s his mum, when a doorbell rings he thinks it’s his mum.

‘He watches videos every day because that’s all he has left of her.’

When Ms Daniel-Folkes was killed, PC Patel and PC Thomson were answering an emergency call after man was seen behaving erratically and throwing things, including a bin, at a woman who was running away from him near a bus stop.

Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward told the court: ‘At 11.20pm on 9 June 2021 PC Patel was driving a marked police vehicle in response to an emergency call.

‘PC Thomson was in the lead and PC Patel was travelling behind him in convey, separated by a four second margin.

‘Shante was crossing Stockwell Road as the two police cars approached.

‘She paused in the northbound carriageway as Thomson passed her at 70mph.

‘She then passed in front of Patel’s car. Despite turning and braking the car hit her at 45mph.

‘Serious impact injuries rendered her unconscious immediately and very quickly caused death.

‘Patel drove at grossly excessive speeds for significant distances. Even though they were not bound by the speed limit, it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving in this way was dangerous, and it should have been even more obvious to him with his training.

‘He was driving at an inappropriately close distance without his front emergency lights illuminated.’

The Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft had told Patel: ‘At the moment the brakes were applied you were driving at 81mph.

‘The training you will have received made clear you must be able to stop safely within the distance you can see, even when responding to an emergency call.

‘You showed a disregard for vulnerable road users.

‘You were in closer proximity to PC Thomson’s car than training dictates, when it was your responsibility to keep an appropriate gap.

‘You knew that road users often don’t anticipate a second emergency vehicle.

‘You turned the front lights off making the vehicle less visible to road users who may not have been expecting a second car.

‘You have expressed genuine remorse for what happened.

‘I have seen and read a set of glowing references about you setting out the many good things you have done as a police officer.

‘Taking the life of Shante is something you will never forgive yourself for doing.’

Patel’s lawyer Alisdair Williamson, KC, said: ‘It is difficult to imagine the pressure an emergency response driver is under.

‘Of course the answer should always be that they drive safely, but what is on all driver’s minds when they arrive at a scene is what would the situation have been if I arrived earlier.

‘He only ever wanted to do good.’

Patel, who trained with South Wales police, sat with his head in his hands as Mr Williamson described his ‘genuine remorse’ and told the court he had delivered first aid and CPR to Ms Daniel-Folkes at the scene.

Shante’s mother walked out of court as statements were read praising Patel’s courage, ‘exemplary character’ and commitment to policing.

She also left the court in tears as the judge told Patel he may only serve half of his sentence, one and a half years, in custody.

Following her death Ms Daniel-Folkes was remembered by a friend as ‘sweet, sophisticated, sassy, street-smart, special, stunning, straightforward yet complex, strong willed and selfless’.

Patel, of Barking, east London, admitted causing death by dangerous driving.

He was sentenced to three years in prison and banned from driving for six years.

Thomson, from Haywards Heath, West Sussex, was cleared of dangerous driving but convicted of careless driving.

He was fined £500 and received five penalty points on his licence.
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