A personal trainer who was jailed 10-years for killing a grandfather in a high-speed smash on a Black Country road has had his appeal rejected.
Kamran Abbasi Raja, 37, was driving at almost double the speed limit before he struck Edward Harris’ Honda in Wolverhampton Road, Brandhall, in April 2015.
Raja was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, he allegedly blamed Mr Harris, but eventually pleaded guilty last September.
At Wolverhampton Crown Court he was sentenced to 10-years and senior judges in London have now rejected his bid for a cut in the term. Raja appeared in a video taken inside HMP Birmingham just few days into his sentence where insults were aimed to another man.
Mr Justice Dingemans told the Court of Appeal that the attempt to blame the deceased and Raja’s long record for driving offences made the offence worse.
Witnesses spoke of Raja driving like an “idiot”, aggressively overtaking and undertaking other motorists, said the judge.
Mr Harris was performing a normally safe manoeuvre, crossing the dual carriageway when his car was hit by Raja’s high-powered Audi.
“This was a prolonged, persistent and deliberate course of bad driving,” continued the judge.
“The crown court judge 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.”
The judge, sitting with Judge Michael Topoloski QC and Lord Justice Holroyde, dismissed Raja’s bid for a cut in his sentence.
In September Raja was under investigation after appearing in mobile phone footage posted online – from inside HMP Birmingham.
Just days into his ten-year sentence, he appeared in the video uploaded to social media – where insults were seemingly aimed at another man.
Raja was surrounded by almost a dozen other inmates in the cell footage – many with their faces covered to hide their identity.
Staff at the G4S-run prison raided a cell after being made aware of the footage, as it is illegal for inmates to have mobile phones.
West Midlands Police also launched an investigation.
