Taxi driver Mohamed Farooq Saleemi jailed for seven years for killing breakdown recovery worker in crash in Hampshire after texting while driving
A taxi driver was texting while driving and crashed into a man who was recovering a broken-down vehicle on a motorway - killing him.
Mohamed Farooq Saleemi, 64, had been texting when he veered off the carriageway and collided with a recovery worker on the hard shoulder.
Late at night, Saleemi collided with a Mercedes Vito vehicle and 54-year-old Vologea Mihaliuc.
Mr Mihaliuc was a recovery operative who was working on a broken-down vehicle at the side of the road. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.
CCTV and dash cam footage shows Saleemi veering off the carriageway towards the recovery vehicle, which had flashing amber lights.
A court heard Saleemi was not paying attention as he had been texting while driving, so did not see the vehicle up ahead.
Today Saleemi was sentenced to seven years for causing death by dangerous driving. He was also sentenced for perverting the course of justice, after he tried to hide his phone from police officers, which he had previously pleaded guilty to.
DC Joy Jarvis, of the Roads Policing Unit, said: “This was a senseless death caused by a distracted driver who was using his phone. As a professional taxi driver, the defendant should have known better. To risk lives just to send a text is a completely selfish act and now a family has been completely torn apart by this man’s actions.”
The incident happened on the M3 between Junctions 13 and 14, a stretch between Winchester and Southampton. Saleemi, of Cedar Road in Eastleigh, Hampshire, was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court. The crash happened at about 11.25pm on February 21, 2022.