'I don’t know what happened': Deliveroo driver claims he ‘did not see’ elderly man before fatal collision

A driver has claimed that he ‘did not see’ an elderly man moments before fatally colliding with him.

Mustafa Sayed, 55, was travelling down School Lane in Didsbury in his Toyota Aygo when he approached the junction with Parrs Wood Road on November 14, 2022. As the lights changed to green, he turned right onto Parrs Wood Road and struck 86-year-old Sadrudin Noormaohamed Adatia who was walking across the road whilst using a walking aid, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Mr Adatia was rushed to hospital but sadly died as a result of his injuries, jurors were told. Prosecutors allege that Mr Sayed, of Withington, ‘did not look’ into the road he was turning into and collided with Mr Adatia. He denies an offence of causing death by careless driving and is on trial at Manchester Crown Court.

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Giving evidence, Mr Sayed told jurors that he did look into the road but ‘just didn’t see or notice’ Mr Adatia.

The Deliveroo driver said he came to the UK in 2011 from his native Afghanistan. He said he lived with his wife and two children, and had a clean driving record with no previous convictions or cautions.

On the day of the incident Mr Sayed said he was taking a delivery to a customer at around 2.30pm when he approached the junction with Parrs Wood Road. He said he was not using his phone, which was in a cradle at the time, and it was showing a display directing him to the location, along with voice directions.

Katherine Wright, representing Mr Sayed, asked: “Did you see anything that would make you stop?”

Speaking through an interpreter, Mr Sayed said: “When I turned right I couldn’t see anything in front of me.”

“When did you first see Mr Adatia crossing the road?” the barrister asked. “I saw him and I braked just before I hit him. I braked as hard as I could,” he said.

Asked about how he felt immediately after the collision, Mr Sayed said: “I was in a total state of shock. I was frightened. I didn’t know what was happening. I was in a state of total shock.”

He added that since the incident he had kept Mr Adatia in his thoughts and had prayed for him ‘every day’. “I am deeply sorry for what happened,” he added.

In cross examination by prosecutor Stephen Littlewood, he denied being in a rush and ‘cutting the corner’. He said he felt the oncoming traffic was far enough away that he had a ‘safe gap’ to make the right turn.

“If you looked into the road you would have seen him, wouldn’t you?” Mr Littlewood asked. “I can’t say how I didn’t see him,” Mr Sayed replied.

“How did you not see Mr Adatia?” the prosecutor pressed.

Mr Sayed said: “This is what is bothering me, how I did not see him. As soon as I did see him I pressed my brakes. I tried to avoid it as soon as I noticed him. I didn’t think at the time that this accident was about to happen.

“I didn’t have the intention of hitting him or anything, I just didn’t see him or notice him. I don’t know what exactly happened.”

Mr Sayed, of Parsonage Road, denies causing death by driving without due care and attention.

The trial continues.