Hit and run driver Nishaben Mistry jailed after 69 year-old pedestrian died

A driver who failed to stop at the scene of a crash in which a 69-year-old pedestrian died, has been sentenced.

Nishaben Mistry was driving a BMW 1 series on Havacre Lane, Coseley in Dudley, on the evening of Thursday, 15 December 2022 when she was involved in the collision.

But Mistry, aged 37, failed to stop, and instead continued home. Investigations showed that she later walked back to the location and saw police cars, but she thought it was not to do with her having hit what she believed was a bush. Mistry’s phone was examined and revealed that she’d made several internet searches after the crash found titled:

• ‘What happens to hit and run drivers who are later found by their licence plates’,
• ‘Police hit and run procedure UK’,
• ‘How long does an arrest take on a hit and run’,
• ‘Do most hit and run drivers get caught’,
• ‘Can you get away with a hit and run’ and
• ‘Do the police usually find the people behind hit and run accidents’. 

The investigation revealed that Mistry would have only had one second to react to the pedestrian and that there was no evidence to support any sort of careless or dangerous driving and no excess speed or distraction.

Following a guilty plea to the charge of failing to stop, she was sentenced at Birmingham Magistrates Court on 6 July, to 17 weeks’ custody, suspended for two years. She was also ordered to complete 240 hours’ unpaid work and 25 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days and she was disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Detective Sergeant Paul Hughes from the West Midlands Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: "I completely understand that on first reading this sentence appears very low when someone has unfortunately lost their life on our roads. However, in this case a comprehensive investigation and a detailed reconstruction by a forensic collision investigator showed that Mistry only had one second to react to the pedestrian as he was masked from view.

"The manner of driving in this case did not highlight any offences. Nevertheless, the law is quite clear in what you have to do after a collision and for Mistry it was not what she did, but more what she did next. The internet searches showed a clear and premeditated process and in passing the sentence the court found that the searches in particular betrayed her state of mind as ‘calculating rather than panicked’.  "Drivers who think it is acceptable not to stop after such a collision will be sought and prosecuted within the allowances of the law.

"The loss of life on our roads is not something we should accept and I offer my condolences to the family in this case and thank them for their patience and understanding."