A DRUNK driver who posted a “disgusting” message on Facebook after killing a father-of-three in a head-on crash has been jailed for eight years.

Joshua Jeffrey wrote: “PMSL. I did this. I was the driver,” when Liaqat Mahmood’s employer, 1st Choice Private Hire, publicly announced details of his funeral arrangements, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Jeffrey, 21, then repeatedly denied to the police that he was driving the black Rover estate that smashed head-on with Mr Mahmood’s blue Vauxhall Vectra.

He said his twin brother, Ryan, was at the wheel during the crash in Park Lane at 1.15am on December 24, 2015.

The court heard that Ryan Jeffrey, the front seat passenger in the Rover, was unconscious at the scene of the collision. He was taken to Leeds General Infirmary on a spinal board with a head injury and suspected fractured hand but had since made a satisfactory recovery.

Mr Mahmood, 33, had to be cut from his vehicle. He was shouting and moaning in pain and taken by ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary where he suffered a cardiac arrest and died the same night.

Joshua Jeffrey got out of the Rover, staggered towards the back of the car and fell over, prosecutor John Bull said.

A nurse at the scene who tried to help him noticed a strong smell of alcohol coming from the vehicle.

He pushed her aside and was aggressive and abusive, threatening: “If you don’t get off me, I’ll mash your face in.”

Jeffrey staggered off and when another woman took his arm, he said: “Touch me again and I’ll knock you out.”

He left the scene and was arrested at 2.40am hiding in the base of a divan bed at an address in Eric Street, Keighley.

Mr Bull said Jeffrey was drunk, he had cuts to his face and was limping.

He told the police he was not in the car but a chunk of glass fell out of his pocket when he was taken into custody.

Jeffrey was transported to Bradford Royal Infirmary where he was found to have 126 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80.

Six days after Mr Mahmood’s death, 1st Choice Private Hire, based off Church Street in Keighley, posted a Facebook announcement saying there would be some disruption to their service while his colleagues attended his funeral.

Sixteen hours later, Jeffrey posted a message on the page, saying: “PMSL. I did this. I was the driver.”

The court was told the letters stood for an abusive phrase.

Jeffrey, of Eric Street, pleaded guilty to causing Mr Mahmood’s death by dangerous driving. He was uninsured and had no driving licence.

An accident investigator concluded that the Rover’s headlights were not working at the time of the collision. Both vehicles were straddling the central white line but no excessive speed was involved.

Mr Mahmood’s wife, Shazia Nureen, said in her victim personal statement that she had lost her "soulmate".

“Liaqat was my first love and he will be my last,” she said.

“He was always sending cards with flower petals in and spoiling me.”

She and the children were receiving counselling.

“Our life now is like a living nightmare,” Mrs Nureen said.

“Liaqat was my soulmate. When he died, I died too.”

Jeffrey’s barrister, Tim Capstick, said he was very remorseful and publicly apologised to the family of Mr Mahmood.

He took the wheel that night to prevent his brother Ryan from driving after both had been in the pub.

He drove only a very short distance before the crash and was not speeding. He turned on the car headlights and did not know they had been damaged earlier that day.

Judge David Hatton QC said Jeffrey’s decision to drive that night had decimated the lives of Mr Mahmood’s family.

“For a considerable amount of time you displayed no remorse and you posted a disgusting message on Facebook," said Judge Hatton, who also banned Jeffrey from driving for eight years.

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