"you cowardly left the scene"
A motorist who fled to Pakistan a few hours after killing a cyclist has been jailed for six years.
On July 30, 2020, at around 11:20 pm, Kashif Khan was driving a BMW which did not belong to him.
It had been loaned to someone else following a separate road collision, who let the defendant drive it.
Khan “zoomed” past witnesses at speed as he undertook them on a slip road at Saltley Gate Island before cutting up a taxi driver as he merged onto Washwood Heath Road.
He was doing more than double the 30 mph limit when he ploughed into 59-year-old Andel Goulbourne, who was travelling in the opposite direction on his bicycle.
CCTV showed the grandfather being flung into the air.
Birmingham Crown Court heard the victim’s body came to rest 50 metres from the collision point.
Khan fled the scene.
Judge Kerry Maylin told him: “You must have realised. You got out of your vehicle and walked towards the scene.
“Then, perhaps on seeing the carnage your dangerous driving had caused, you cowardly left the scene leaving Mr Goulbourne to members of the public who had come out of their own properties.”
Less than 20 hours later, Khan was on a flight to Dubai.
A few months later, Crimestoppers issued a wanted appeal with a £5,000 reward for information on the then 24-year-old’s whereabouts.
It was discovered that he moved to Pakistan.
There he lived a seemingly normal life, getting married, having children and working as a taxi driver.
But in July 2024, he flew back to Birmingham Airport and was arrested.
The victim’s sister Carol Gordon, said the footage of the collision and the image of his “lifeless body lying in the road” haunted her every day.
She recalled that on his 56th birthday, he had told her all he wanted from life was to “be around my family”, a wish she said was “cruelly taken away from him”.
Ms Gordon added: “Every time I see a cyclist on the road flashbacks paralyse me for a split-second then I secretly wish the cyclist a long life, safety and happiness. That’s all I wanted for my brother.”
Speaking on behalf of Mr Goulbourne’s children, his daughter Samantha Higgins told Khan:
“You showed no remorse and only thought of yourself, choosing to flee the scene and ultimately the country, leaving my dad at the side of the road battling for his life.
“You avoided apprehension for four years. Now you are finally being held accountable for your actions.
“As a family, we hope you use the time you are given to reflect on the incredible pain you have caused.
“Our dad’s death left a huge void in lots of people’s lives especially our lives and those of his grandchildren who will now grow up without a father figure.”
In May 2019, Khan completed an extended retest following a conviction for dangerous driving in 2017 which earned him a six-month sentence and 15-month driving disqualification.
He admitted causing death by dangerous driving.
Balbir Singh, defending, said Khan “panicked” after the collision and left the country “terrified”, but he “built up the courage” to return to the UK voluntarily and plead guilty to his charge.
Mr Singh added: “You have his age at the time, 24. You have his regret and remorse.”
The judge told Khan: “You moved on with your life, married and had two children and lived freely in Pakistan.
“It leads me to have concerns what you were doing in Pakistan.”
“You were clearly not consumed with regret as you worked as a taxi driver in Pakistan driving people around when knowing you had been involved in a fatal traffic collision.”
Khan was jailed for six years.
He was also banned from driving for 12 years and 10-and-a-half months.
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