A delivery driver who drove the wrong way down a narrow one-way street to save time fatally struck a five-year-old boy, leaving the child’s mother with a heartbreaking image she says she will carry for the rest of her life.

Colin Agyei, 32, from Knottingley, West Yorkshire, was driving a Nissan Note when he hit Abdullah Ebrahim on Back Camberley Street in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, on July 7, 2022.

The young boy had been crossing the residential back street when he encountered Agyei’s vehicle. He was taken to hospital but died shortly afterwards.

Agyei was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving at Leeds Crown Court on September 24 and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Driver took one-way street to save time

The court heard that Back Camberley Street was a narrow road between rows of terraced houses and was rarely used by vehicles.

Despite clearly marked signs, Agyei drove the wrong way along the one-way street because it offered him a shortcut while he was working as a delivery driver.

Abdullah had little opportunity to react when the car appeared on the road.

Although investigators estimated Agyei had been travelling at around 15mph, a detailed examination of the street found that its layout meant vehicles could not be driven safely there at speeds above around 7mph.

Police said Abdullah would not have expected a vehicle to approach from that direction.

Mum haunted by finding her son

For Abdullah’s mother, Salma Begun, the tragedy has been compounded by the fact that Agyei did not stop after the collision.

In her victim impact statement, she described the moment she discovered her son lying on the ground as an image that has remained with her ever since.

“What I cannot understand, and what I will never forget, is that he failed to stop and left my child there,” she said.

“I will never forget the image of Abdullah lying on the floor on his own.

“That image has stayed with me for four years. It is something I carry every single day.”

Begun also described the emotional toll of attending court and repeatedly having to revisit the circumstances surrounding her son’s death.

She said she had listened to Agyei claim that he had not seen Abdullah and felt that his account changed several times during the proceedings.

The four-year wait for justice, she said, had not brought an end to the family’s pain.

“The pain did not end with that verdict,” she said.

“During that time, I have had to go through this awful ordeal again and again – having to attend court, hear the evidence and relive the circumstances of Abdullah’s death has caused me enormous emotional suffering.”

Judge condemns decision to take shortcut

During sentencing, Judge Tom Bayliss KC said Agyei had taken Abdullah’s life by choosing to drive down the one-way street simply because it saved him time.

“You took Abdullah’s life when you took a shortcut down a one-way street,” the judge said.

“You did for no better reason than it saved you time as a delivery driver.”

He pointed out that the one-way system was clearly marked and that Agyei had ample opportunity to see the signs.

The judge also highlighted the nature of the road, describing it as a narrow street running between the back gardens of two rows of terraced houses — an environment where children could reasonably be expected to play or cross.

Police say the collision was completely avoidable

Detective Sergeant Steve Suggitt, from West Yorkshire Police’s Major Collision Enquiry Team, said the crash had taken away a young life and deprived Abdullah’s family of a lifetime of memories.

“This was a truly tragic incident that resulted in the death of a young boy and robbed a family of a lifetime of shared memories,” he said.

Suggitt said the collision could have been prevented if Agyei had obeyed the no-entry sign and stayed out of Back Camberley Street.

“Young Abdullah would not have been expecting a vehicle to be driving up the road and did not have time to react,” he added.

Investigators carried out extensive testing of the street as part of their inquiry. Although Agyei’s estimated speed was around 15mph, officers concluded that the road’s characteristics made speeds above 7mph unsafe.

Agyei has now been sentenced to six years in prison for causing death by dangerous driving.

But Suggitt acknowledged that the punishment could never compensate Abdullah’s family for the loss they will live with.

“While he has been given a custodial sentence, I know that no sentence can ever in any way equate to the lifetime of grief that Abdullah’s family face.”