"He only had one job to do and he failed."
A speeding taxi driver who killed a pedestrian just 16 minutes after receiving a police warning over his driving was jailed for six years and 10 months.
Shakoor Ahmed was told he had behaved with “gross arrogance” on the roads on the night he ran over Dan Beames.
Moments earlier, Ahmed had been driving a passenger when he was pulled over by two police officers who gave him a formal warning for speeding.
He was not charged because of the impact a conviction might have on his 16-year career.
Bodycam footage showed an officer letting off Ahmed with a warning, after telling him:
“Just don’t do it again. I don’t want you or anyone else to get hit or hurt.
“I’ve been to far too many nasty accidents in my time, and that (his driving) was silly.”
But, Ahmed boasted about the warning to his next two passengers when he picked them up at Gloucester Bus station and drove them to Cheltenham in his Toyota Prius taxi.
Driving at 100mph along a bypass between the two locations, Gloucester Crown Court heard he was still doing 53mph on a 40mph road in the town when he hit Mr Beames, who was crossing the road.
Ahmed could not avoid him and the pedestrian suffered catastrophic brain injuries.
Mr Beames’ mother Yvette White and his partner Jessica both described the devastation his loss had caused to them and the rest of his family.
Mrs White said her son’s death was the second tragedy to hit her because she had lost a daughter in 2020 – and she herself had then been diagnosed with cancer.
Since the tragedy, she has been on anxiety medications, she does not sleep properly and she keeps thinking of her last image of him in hospital.
Mrs White said: “I could accept his death if it was a total accident but my son’s life was taken away by a taxi driver’s dangerous driving and that I can’t accept.
“He only had one job to do and he failed.
“This man not only took my son’s life, he destroyed mine as well.”
Paramedic Jessica said she was on duty and at Great Western Hospital in Swindon when she heard the news of the collision from her control room.
She went straight to Bristol, still in uniform, to be with Mr Beames.
She said: “I kissed him and told him I was there and I loved him and I would stay until the end, whatever the outcome might be.
“I signed the consent form for neurological surgery but post-surgery I was told he had ‘almost a zero per cent chance of recovery’ – words that I will remember for the rest of my life. It was earth-shattering.”
Jessica said she has no longer been able to work as a frontline paramedic as a result of the trauma of her partner’s death.
Ahmed pleaded guilty to causing the death of Mr Beames by dangerous driving on December 17, 2021.
His barrister, Catherine Spedding, said: “He clearly appreciates the effects because he has four children himself.
“He lives with his parents and cares for them. It is a family responsibility he has willingly taken on.”
Judge Rupert Lowe said the taxi driver had been driving at speed in a “hazard-rich environment” after a Gloucester Rugby Club match when he was stopped by police.
The judge told him: ‘PC Dougall thought you were driving dangerously fast and you had to swerve to narrowly miss a parked car.
“You said you were in a hurry and you said ‘I know, I cannot defend my speed’.
“You also made a flippant remark that recent damage to your vehicle was caused by you driving too slowly and that was stupidity.
“You did not take the issue of speed seriously even when you had paying passengers on board.”
“PC Dougall was not in possession of a crystal ball. He was no more able than any other human being to foresee events. It was humane and responsible decision taking.”
The judge said Mr Beames’ “judgement might have been impaired and he may have been distracted by speaking on his phone but there is insufficient evidence to make any judgement on that”.
Judge Lowe pointed out that if Ahmed had been driving at the 40mph limit there was only a 30% chance of Mr Beames being killed.
But at his speed of 53mph, the chance of fatality was 80%.
He said: “This was the most awful waste of a young life.”
Ahmed was jailed for six years and 10 months.
He must also take an extended driving test before being allowed on the road again after his five-year, five month disqualification.
Collision investigator Nigel Davies said after the sentencing:
“To be stopped by police, most motorists would heed that warning and reflect on their driving but it was no deterrent to Ahmed.
“His selfish actions have led to the tragic death of this young man, putting Daniel’s family through needless heartache and suffering.”
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