A sleepy motorist, who dozed off behind the wheel, will have to nap in a prison cell for the next year for causing a car crash that killed a man who was crossing the street, unless he can successfully appeal against his sentence.
The 34-year-old was found guilty at the High Criminal Court of the wrongful death of Mohamed Arshad Kala Khan, who died from injuries suffered in the collision.
The Pakistani driver was charged with, and convicted of, vehicular manslaughter, property damage, reckless driving and posing a threat to the lives of pedestrians.
According to court documents, the accident took place on December 24 at 3.40pm, when the appellant was driving a company-owned car westward on the leftmost lane of Al Farooq Flyover.
As he neared a downward ramp heading to Bahrain City Centre, the vehicle veered towards the right, colliding with a direction sign, then with a metal barrier, before drifting towards the pedestrian.
The vehicle crashed into the late Mr Khan and propelled him five metres forward until it hit another road sign.
The vehicle continued to drift, hitting two more road signs – including a speed limit indicator – and ultimately landed upside down, 22m away from the initial collision point, into a tree-filled median strip – the area that separates two lanes.
Victim Mr Khan suffered severe injuries and died from multiple fractures and bleeding.
The crash caused some damage to the vehicle and to public property such as road signs, traffic barriers and decorative trees.
The appellant admitted to the charges during Public Prosecution questioning, the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court heard, and stated that ‘he was overcome with sleepiness’ when the accident took place.
Judges adjourned the hearing to April 6 for defence arguments.
&uuid=(email))