A hit-and-run drink driver mowed down a 62-year-old pedestrian while speeding on the wrong side of the road.
Javier Salazar, 40, had been drinking beer, tequila and wine at a party before he got behind the wheel of his van on the night of June 26, 2022.
He had already reversed into a tipper truck and driven off before he struck Irishman Derek Kernan as he crossed a road in Tottenham.
Police and paramedics arrived but Mr Kernan suffered catastrophic head injuries and died at the scene.
Salazar claimed he had been fleeing for his life after being pursued, threatened and attacked by the occupants of the tipper truck.
The prosecution disputed his version of events and asserted he had driven off to avoid giving his details after the initial crash.
Salazar was found guilty of causing Mr Kernan’s death by dangerous driving and jailed for 12 years at the Old Bailey yesterday (July 31).
The 40-year-old, from Chadwell Heath, was also banned from driving for 18 years.
In a victim impact statement, the victim’s brother Desmond Kernan said: “Derek was a good person and would always be a good laugh to be around.”
His loss was still a “shock” as the family had been deprived of the chance to say a “proper goodbye” to him, he said.
In mitigation, Adil Syed said Salazar had shown genuine remorse and the taking of another man’s life would “haunt him for the rest of his life”.
Previously, the trial had heard how Mr Kernan had just got off a bus on his way home and had nearly reached the other side of the road when he was struck by the defendant’s van, which was speeding in a 20mph street.
Prosecutor Dickon Reid had said: “The impact caused Mr Kernan to be thrown into the air and deposited further down the road on the pavement outside a food and wine shop.”A member of the public flagged down police to direct them to the Peugeot van, which had been abandoned in a road about 500 metres away.
Salazar, who was with a woman and her 14-year-old son, confirmed to police that the van was his.
When asked who was behind the wheel, the defendant told them in Spanish: “Don’t tell them I was driving.”
The 14-year-old boy told officers he had been to a party in Wood Green and the defendant had been drinking, but still decided to drive them all home.
He told officers that before the fatal crash, Salazar had hit another van, got into an altercation with the occupants and was racing off, causing him to be thrown around the back of the van.
Following Salazar’s arrest, a breath test found that the defendant was more than two-and-a-half times over the drink-drive limit, Mr Reid said.
Giving evidence, Salazar said: “I feel really bad. I have my own family and it would be very painful if that happened. I am really sorry for everything that has happened.”
Reporting by PA.
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