Man lied about car in hit-and-run
A man who falsely claimed to have sold his car before it was involved in a crash that left a man in a coma has been jailed for two years.
Daninder Singh Rai, of Higgins Walk, Smethwick, was also banned from driving for two years and ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge, after admitting perverting the course of justice following the crash.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Rai had forged a receipt to say he had sold the car and gave police a false alibi following the crash which left 44-year-old father-of-two Simon Oldnall with brain damage.
The court was told that Rai, aged 29, had made the guilty on the basis that he was not driving the car during the crash in West Bromwich. He maintained that he was a passenger.
Mr David Iles, prosecuting, said pedestrian Mr Oldnall suffered serious injuries in a collision with a Volkswagen Golf in Black Lake on April 26 last year.
"Mr Oldnall was in a coma for four weeks, and detained in hospital for some weeks after that, and he has since required further operations," said Mr Iles. "The vehicle in question did not stop."
Mr Iles said on May 6 police went to the defendant's home, where they found a receipt for the sale of the car in question, dated April 24. The document said he had sold the car to a Michael Felton of Felton's Garage in Wolverhampton, which was later found not to exist.
"He had created a false sales document saying he had sold the car two days before the collision," said Mr Iles.
During questioning at Smethwick police station, Rai denied any knowledge of the crash, and said he sold the car after putting an advert in its window.
He claimed that at the time of the crash he was with a friend, and later contacted that friend asking him to give him a false alibi.
However, the friend contacted police instead, stating that he had been at work during the times that Rai claimed to be with him.
Mr Iles said that Rai claimed to have bought a silver Mini from a dealer in West Bromwich on April 29, three days after the crash. However, it later emerged that he actually sold the Golf – which had been damaged in the crash – to the dealer at the same time.
Miss Rachel Thomas, for Rai, said her client suffered from mental health problems. She said while it would be possible to treat him for his mental health problems in custody, it would be better dealt with out of prison.
"A prison sentence is going to lead him on a downward spiral in his mental health."
Passing sentence, Judge John Warner told Rai that the injuries Mr Oldnall received were disastrous.
"This was quite a sophisticated series of actions that you carried out, which makes it all the more serious.
"This was very serious, deliberate offending, and that can't be overlooked by the court. It has to be dealt with by way of an immediate custodial sentence."
