Brothers jailed over fatal crash and deception

A man who tried to cover-up that his brother had killed a pedestrian after crashing into a bus stop while speeding has been jailed.

Kashif Mehdi, 42, claimed his black BMW 5 Series, which was being driven by his brother Rizwan Mehdi, 36, had been stolen when it crashed and killed 57-year-old Alan Lee at the bus stop in Colne Road, Brierfield, on the evening of 31 March 2024. Rizwan Mehdi had lost control trying to overtake two cars.

Kashif Mehdi admitted perverting the course of justice and fraud by false representation and was jailed for 20 months at Preston Crown Court on Friday.

His brother was jailed for six years on 20 January after admitting causing death by dangerous driving

Police said Rizwan Mehdi lost control of the BMW, weaving between the vehicles he was attempting to overtake and hitting the bus stop and a stone wall.

He was treated by a passing ambulance with paramedics alerted by the public. He then fled after not giving his name or details to the paramedics.

Ten minutes after the crash, Kashif Mehdi called Lancashire Police's Force Control Room to report his BMW as having been stolen by an unknown individual from outside a property about half a mile away from the scene.

The next day, Rizwan Mehdi admitted to police he was the BMW driver.

Despite his brother's admission, Kashif Mehdi repeated the stolen car lie to his insurers on 5 April 2024.

A victim impact statement from Lee's dad said his son had spent nearly five hours with his parents the day before, adding: "We cannot remember what we talked about but we are really glad we had this visit.

"On that day his mum put her hands on his face and said 'you know I love you'. This is the last thing we ever said to him."

"Alan turned 57 years old the week before he died. In a strange set of coincidences Alan came into this world on Good Friday and left on Easter Monday."

"Nothing can bring Alan back but maybe his death can mean something and contribute to society. If deterrence is an effective tool, maybe other families in the future could be spared the hurt and trauma that we have been through resulting from the illegal, irresponsible, dangerous and frequent misuse of high-performance vehicles within our area.

"Maybe that would be a small comfort to set against the loss of a son?"

Sgt Martin Wilcock said: "This case is yet another tragic example of the consequences of driving high-powered vehicles dangerously and recklessly."

He added Rizwan Mehdi had used the streets of Nelson and Brierfield "as his own personal racetrack".

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