A MAN who knocked down and killed a “cherished grandfather” in a hit and run crash on a busy Bradford road has been jailed.

Yasser Iqbal hit Kenneth Parratt with his Peugeot Bipper van as the 71 year-old was crossing Idle Road on September 23, 2016.

He fled the scene without stopping, with his actions labelled “unforgivable” by the victim’s family at Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

Iqbal, 29, of Norman Grove, Idle, Bradford, had been due to stand trial, but instead entered a guilty plea to causing death by careless driving.

He had already admitted charges of causing death by driving while uninsured, and dangerous driving.

Prosecutor Ian Howard told the court that a witness had seen Iqbal perform a u-turn in a cul-de-sac off Idle Road at around 6pm on the night of the incident before then re-joining the road.

She said he was doing “between 35mph and 40mph” in front of her as he approached the scene of the crash, near the junction with Myers Lane.

Mr Howard said that there was a distance of 82 metres from where Iqbal would have reached the crest of a hill on the road and the crash site.

He said that had Iqbal been driving at 30mph, it would have taken him 4.5 seconds to travel that distance, the same time it would have taken Mr Parratt to cross the road.

He said Iqbal’s view was unobstructed, stating: “He was there to be seen the whole of the time the defendant travelled those 82 metres. If Mr Parratt was in the carriageway throughout, the defendant has failed to see him.”

Mr Howard said that Iqbal told police he had not seen Mr Parratt until he was only “two car lengths away.”

He said: “There was a failure to keep a proper lookout for pedestrians in the road, that is the careless element. There was a failure to take evasive action.”

The court heard that despite Iqbal trying to steer towards the centre of the road at the last moment, Mr Parratt was lifted onto the bonnet before being thrown onto the road.

Mr Howard said the impact of the collision damaged the van’s bonnet and left its windscreen “entirely shattered”.

Despite that, Iqbal carried on down Myers Lane and drove for another two miles, which Mr Howard said constituted the dangerous driving offence, before abandoning the van in Plumpton Close.

Mr Howard said: “He (Iqbal) didn’t do anything about the collision until 8.10 when he was in contact with police.”

The court was told that Mr Parratt, of Swain House, Bradford, was treated by paramedics at the scene of the crash but was pronounced dead at 6.25pm.

When Mr Parratt was named by police in the aftermath of the incident, his family paid tribute to him as a “loved and cherished father and grandad.”

In a victim impact statement read to the court yesterday, Mr Parratt’s daughter, Deborah, described her father, who had six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, as a “quiet, gentle man, who enjoyed life to the full.”

She said his death had left her “a total wreck”, adding: “I am well aware that anyone can have an accident. What I’m struggling with is how someone can hit a person and drive off. Not to go back and see how that person is, I find that unforgivable.”

The court heard that Iqbal had been convicted for driving while banned on three occasions between 2007 and 2010, also admitting a charge of driving without due care and attention in 2014.

His barrister, Stephen Wood, said: “The defendant’s pleas acknowledge that for at least some point of time, this man (Mr Parratt) was there to be seen. Tragically, he didn’t. This defendant knows that what he has done can never be rectified. He is sorry. When he realised the enormity of what he had done he came to his senses and handed himself in. The defendant will serve this sentence, others will endure it.”

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, told Iqbal: “Due to your driving this gentleman lost his life, that is a fact. You killed him.

“The family have lost a figure central to them and their lives. Throughout his life, Mr Parratt behaved impeccably and contributed to his family and community.

“You knew Idle Road, you knew you had to be alert to pedestrians. Your sight line was such that had you seen Mr Parratt in time, you could have stopped. When somebody is killed in these circumstances there are consequences. This was not just an accident.”

Judge Durham Hall said the maximum sentence for the most serious offence of causing death by driving while uninsured was two years, adding: “I must use the guidelines and nothing else. The family understand the limits that I am under.”

With mitigation and credit for his pleas, Iqbal was jailed for 15 months and will be banned from driving for two years on his release from custody.

Speaking after the sentencing, Sergeant Ann Drury, of the West Yorkshire Police Major Collision Enquiry Team, said: “Iqbal failed to stop after the collision, which left an elderly man with serious injuries which were to prove fatal.

“I hope he uses his time behind bars to reflect on his actions that day and the pain he has caused.”