Taxi driver guilty of killing woman, 91, as she crossed road

A jury yesterday decided that Jamil Khan, 38, killed Florence Tebbutt in the incident in Merrion Street, Leeds, in June last year.

His trial at Leeds Crown Court had heard he was said to have told a witness that Miss Tebbutt “should have looked where she was going” in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy.

The jury took just over seven and a half hours to find Khan guilty of causing death by careless driving after he had pleaded not guilty to the charge at a previous hearing.

The cabbie, of Dorset Avenue, Harehills, will now be sentenced at the crown court later this month and has been banned from driving.

The trial heard that Miss Tebbutt, from Cookridge, Leeds, who was described as active and independent, had travelled into the city centre to do some shopping on June 3 last year.

At around 2pm, she was crossing the road to go to the St John’s Centre, after standing at a busy pedestrian crossing along with a number of other people.

She had not reached the other side of the road when the green pedestrian signal had gone out, the court heard.

Miss Tebbutt was around 10ft from the pavement when she was hit by Khan’s BMW. The impact threw her into the air before she struck the bonnet of Khan’s car.

She was taken to hospital and treated for a fractured rib and injuries to her kidneys. After seeming to make a recovery, she suffered a heart attack and died on June 14.

The jury had been told that following the incident, a woman had said Khan should have been looking at the road, to which he replied he had been looking at the lights. Prosecutor Simon Batiste also said air fresheners hanging from Khan’s rear view mirror may have obstructed his view.

Carol Sanderson, another witness, said she had told Khan: “You stupid idiot, you did that on purpose. You could have stopped.”

She said he had replied: “The lights were on green. She should have looked where she was going.”