Driver who killed great-grandfather has appeal kicked out by judges

Personal trainer Kamran Raja, 37, was driving at ‘motorway speeds’ on the A4123 Wolverhampton Road in Oldbury just before he struck 85-year-old Edward Harris’ Honda in April 2016.

He pleaded guilty to causing the pensioner’s death by dangerous driving at Wolverhampton Crown Court last September but later applied to the Court of Appeal against the length of his prison term.

However the Appeal judges concluded he deserved every day of his decade-long sentence and rejected the bid.

Raja was travelling at almost double the 40mph limit shortly before ploughing into the Honda at the junction with Castle Road East, propelling the car 100ft up the road

Mr Harris had just dropped off his daughter after they had attended church together when the crash occurred. He had been able to walk from his car afterwards but died the following day at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham after suffering multiple organ failure.

Raja, of Acocks Green, Birmingham, initially pleaded not guilty, blaming Mr Harris for the collision but changed his plea at the last minute.

Witnesses spoke of Raja driving like an ‘idiot’, aggressively overtaking and undertaking other motorists, the Appeal Court heard. Mr Justice Dingemans said that the attempt to blame the victim, combined with Raja’s long record of driving convictions, made the offence worse.

Mr Harris was performing a normally safe manoeuvre, crossing the dual carriageway, when his car was hit by Raja’s high-powered Audi.

The judge said: “This was a prolonged, persistent and deliberate course of bad driving. The crown courtjudge heard the prosecution witnesses give evidence and his findings of fact were soundly based.

“Those showed aggressive driving, overtaking and undertaking inappropriately in a 40mph area. This was driving of the worst type, described by a number of those who had witnessed it in the lead-up to what seemed to be the inevitable consequences.”

Mr Harris suffered a bleed on the brain, various fractures, a bruised lung, and bruising to his liver.

Raja, a father-of-four, had a long record of previous driving offences for which he had spent some time behind bars. In addition to his 10-year sentence for causing Mr Harris’ death, he was also disqualified from driving for five years following his release.