NRI uninsured driver jailed for 18 months for killing medical student NR

Birmingham, April 4, 2006
Ramesh Chopra

NRI, Jaswinder Lakhvinder Singh, 45, a father of two children, who killed a medical student on a pedestrian crossing then sped away was day jailed for 18 months.

Ms Craen crossed the road outside her halls of residence in Edgbaston. She was five weeks into her first term at Birmingham University. She suffered massive brain injuries and died 1pm the day after the accident.Jaswinder, who hit Ms Craen so hard and knocked her about 30 metres. It was estimated that he was travelling at 40mph in a 30mph zone.

Ms Craen's mother allowed newspapers to publish photographs of her daughter in hospital and after reading news paper, Jaswinder gave himself up to police

Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins QC, at Birmingham crown court, was told the accident happened months after Singh's licence was reinstated. He had been banned for 12 months for drink-driving.

Judge Pearce-Higgins said the incident had caused great sadness for all concerned, but said Singh had shown remorse and guilt and was not a callous man. He said if the defendant had been driving at the appropriate speed, the incident would not have happened.

Judge said: "You are clearly a man of good character with only one previous incident of driving with excessive alcohol and I've taken into account that you surrendered and made full submittance of guilt." Singh wept as the sentence was read out. Jaswinder wept as he said he had panicked after hitting the student because he was uninsured and had not been wearing the spectacles he needed

Craen's mother Susan, 47, had said the only appropriate punishment for Singh would be to force him to attend her daughter's funeral."It doesn't make any difference to me if he gets three years or life," she said. "He took away my daughter and time spent in prison can never bring her back.The sentence is an insult to her. She is dead and the man who killed her has a small interruption in his life. This is no deterrent or punishment."

Jaswinder Singh has already served five months of his jail term and police said he could be out within four months.