The driver of an Audi, responsible for the tragic deaths of two young brothers in a horrific road accident in Wolverhampton, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison. The incident, which occurred on Birmingham New Road at 8.45pm on 14 March 2019, claimed the lives of 10-year-old Sanjay Singh and his 23-month-old brother Pawanveer.
Mohammed Sullaiman Khan, aged 27, was racing against another motorist, Hamza Shahid, when he crashed into the BMW carrying the victims. The boys’ mother, driving the BMW, suffered spinal cord injuries in the crash. Khan, from Sandown, fled the scene immediately after the accident.
The collision, captured on CCTV, shows Khan racing at speeds of 92mph before his Audi A3 crashed into the BMW. Shahid, driving a Bentley, stopped just seconds before the crash, narrowly avoiding involvement in the accident.
Arathi Nahar, the mother of the two boys, had just picked up dinner from the eatery where her husband worked and was on her way home when the crash occurred. Sanjay was sitting in the front passenger seat, and Pawanveer was in the back of the vehicle.
During the trial, jurors learned of a ‘false report’ made to the police, suggesting a burglar had stolen the Audi and caused the crash. This report was later discredited as ‘a tissue of lies.’ Two days after the incident, Sulaiman Khan turned himself in at a police station, initially denying involvement but later admitted to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, one count of causing serious injury, and perverting the course of justice.
His brother, Asim Khan, of Hall Green, was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice for lying to police about the burglary and received an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Sullaiman Khan was sentenced to 11 years for causing the deaths of Sanjay and Pawanveer, 38 months concurrently for seriously injuring their mother, and two years consecutively for perverting the course of justice. He will also face a seven-year driving ban upon release and must take an extended driving test.
Hamza Shahid, 36, was acquitted of causing the deaths of the boys after a three-week trial in September.
The tragic event has left the family devastated, with Ms Nahar expressing her unbearable trauma and loss in a statement to the court. Her life, she said, “died on March 14, 2019,” along with her sons.
Eyewitnesses recounted the terrifying moments leading to the crash, describing the reckless driving of the two vehicles involved. The prosecution emphasized the dangerous racing behaviour and the subsequent cover-up attempts by Khan’s friends and family.
The sentencing brings some closure to a case that highlights the severe consequences of dangerous driving and the irrevocable loss it can bring to innocent lives.
