“I CRY every day. They say time heals pain, but each day it gets harder and harder.”

Two years on from his son’s tragic death in a horror crash, Mohammed Fakeer is urging young people in Bradford to stop driving dangerously, so other families don’t have to suffer the pain his have.

On February 26, 2017, 22-year-old Shamas Fakeer was the passenger in an Audi RS4 which crashed in Bradford Road, Bingley, killing him instantly.

Its driver, Haaris Khan, survived, and he and another man, also named Haaris Khan, were both jailed in January for causing death by dangerous driving, after racing along the streets in the early hours at high speed.

Mr Fakeer is now calling on young people in Bradford to learn from this tragedy and stop driving in a reckless manner to stop the unnecessary loss of life on Bradford’s streets.

Speaking from his Frizinghall home, where Shamas’ room has been left untouched since the crash, Mr Fakeer said: “When you lose someone like this, you never have them again.

“We lost our son due to dangerous driving.

“The memories are still there and each day it gets harder and harder without him.

“People say with time it gets easier, but it doesn’t.

“At my age, I am just getting weaker and broken into more pieces every day.

“At any events, birthdays, weddings, special occasions; we are reminded we didn’t get the chance to cherish these moments or even do them with Shamas. He is gone, but the memories remain.

“The youngsters need to know the pain they have put others through. It hurts themselves, but they will never know the pain a family feels until it happens to them.”

Haaris Khan, 26, the driver of the Audi, was jailed for four years and four months, and Haaris Khan, 25, who was racing him in a Volkswagen Golf, was jailed for five-and-a-half years.

Mr Fakeer said he accepts the sentences handed down by Judge David Hatton QC, but no amount of punishment will ever bring his son back.

“They will serve their sentences and then come back, but my son who we have lost will never come back,” he continued.

“The judge has given them their sentence and that is fine, but we have still lost our child.

“They were friends, no one intentionally killed Shamas.

“What happened happened because of dangerous driving.

“Youngsters need to understand they do not know what is around the corner.

“Driving dangerously because you are running a bit late achieves nothing.

“Would you rather be a bit late to something, or speed and overtake and cut corners where someone could never come back again?

“It is two years later, and we are all still in pain, I cry every day.

“Watch your speed, there is no rush.”

Adil Shaan, Shamas Fakeer’s uncle, said not all young people drive dangerously, but people need to know, especially in the Islamic community, that it is not acceptable.

He said: “Our religion says we must obey the law of the land. If a sign says it is a 30 miles per hour zone, drive at 30mph.

“Everything that is written in law we should follow. But youngsters have a different mindset of how it should be not how it is.

“In the past people focussed on saving money to buy a house or for a wedding, now the target is a flashy car, just to go through the streets of Bradford at high speed.

“When the message goes out about dangerous driving, especially from the elders, the young people do listen. I have spoken to young people’s families about their driving and they have calmed down.

“But we need to carry on making sure the message gets through.

“Since the crash, Shamas’ parents’ health has deteriorated because of his death.

“His father is trying to stay strong for the family, but inside he is broken. Every day before breakfast he visits the cemetery and is in tears, and he sees other families visiting young ones they have lost who are also in tears.”

Shamas Fakeer, a law graduate from Bradford College, was 22-years-old when he died in the crash. During the trial of the two Haaris Khans jailed over his death, he was described by his sister Rehana Ikram as “the smile on our family’s face”, and Judge David Hatton QC condemned the two Khans for “deliberately ignoring the rules of the road” and driving at “excessive speed”.

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