Hit-and-run driver who killed father-of-three cyclist by catapulting him 100ft through the air when he struck him at double the speed limit avoided justice for four years by fleeing to Pakistan, getting married, having kids and becoming a taxi driver

A hit-and-run driver who killed a father-of-three when he knocked him down at double the speed limit and catapulted him 100ft in the air had avoided justice for four years after he fled to Pakistan.

Kashif Khan got married, had children, and worked as a taxi driver all while on the run from West Midlands Police. 

Khan ran over 59-year-old great-grandad Andel Goulbourne in Satley, Birmingham, on July 30 2020. 

He then fled the scene and booked a one-way flight to Dubai. He settled in Pakistan living a seemingly normal life until July this year when he flew back to Birmingham Airport and was arrested.

Now he has finally faced justice as the 28-year-old was jailed for six years at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Khan then fled the scene and booked a one-way flight to Dubai. He settled in Pakistan living a seemingly normal life until July this year when he flew back to Birmingham Airport and was arrested

Judge Kerry Maylin told Mr Goulbourne’s family the sentence was to ‘mark the criminality and not put a ‘value’ on his life.

Judge Kerry told Khan: ‘You moved on with your life, married, and had two children and lived freely in Pakistan. It leads me to have concerns what you were doing in Pakistan.

‘You were clearly not consumed with regret as you worked as a taxi driver in Pakistan driving people around when knowing you had been involved in a fatal traffic collision.’

The crash happened at around 11:20pm on 30 July 2020. Khan was driving a BMW which did not even belong to him, the court heard. 

It had been loaned to someone else – ironically following a separate road collision – who in turn let the defendant drive it.

Witnesses described how Khan ‘zoomed’ past at speed as he undertook them on a slip road at the Saltley Gate Island before cutting up a taxi driver as he merged back on to Washwood Heath Road.

Moments later he struck Mr Goulbourne, a charity volunteer who was travelling in the opposite direction on his bicycle and was turning into Clayton Road.

A collision investigation concluded Khan was doing between 61 and 64mph at the time. CCTV showed Mr Goulbourne being flung into the air. The court was told his body came to rest 50 metres from the spot where he was hit. Khan fled the scene.

Police used fingerprints from a drinks can left in the car and a discarded receipt to identify Khan. Forensics experts also confirmed that DNA from a straw left in a drinks can matched Khan’s.

The court heard that a  collision investigation concluded Khan was doing between 61 and 64mph at the time. CCTV showed Mr Goulbourne being flung into the air. The court was told his body came to rest 50 metres from the spot where he was hit

Balbir Singh, mitigating, said Khan ‘panicked’ after the collision and left the country ‘terrified’, but he ‘built up the courage’ to return to the UK voluntarily and plead guilty to his charge. 

Mr Singh said: ‘You have his age at the time, 24. You have his regret and remorse.’

Judge Maylin told Khan: ‘You must have realised. You got out of your vehicle and walked towards the scene. Then, perhaps on seeing the carnage your dangerous driving had caused, you cowardly left the scene leaving Mr Goulbourne to members of the public who had come out of their own properties.’

Less than 20 hours later he was on a flight to Dubai. A few months later Crimestoppers issued a wanted appeal with a £5,000 reward for information on the then 24-year-old’s whereabouts.

Little over a year before the incident, in May 2019, Khan had completed an extended retest following a conviction for dangerous driving in 2017 which earned him a six-month prison sentence and 15-month driving disqualification.

Mr Goulbourne’s sister, Carol Gordon, said the footage of the collision and the image of his ‘lifeless body lying in the road’ haunted her every day.

She recalled that on Mr Goulbourne’s 56th birthday he had told her all he wanted from life was to ‘be around my family’, a wish she said was ‘cruelly taken away from him’.

Ms Gordon added: ‘Every time I see a cyclist on the road flashbacks paralyse me for a split-second then I secretly wish the cyclist a long life, safety and happiness. That’s all I wanted for my brother.’

Khan has finally faced justice as the 28-year-old was jailed for six years at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving

Speaking on behalf of Mr Goulbourne’s children, his daughter Samantha Higgins told Khan: ‘You showed no remorse and only thought of yourself, choosing to flee the scene and ultimately the country, leaving my dad at the side of the road battling for his life.

‘You avoided apprehension for four years. Now you are finally being held accountable for your actions. As a family we hope you use the time you are given to reflect on the incredible pain you have caused.

‘Our dad’s death left a huge void in lots of people’s lives especially our lives and those of his grandchildren who will now grow up without a father figure.’