THE family of a Redditch man killed in a car collision are hoping to ‘get justice’ this week as the case goes before a jury at Worcester Crown Court.
19-year-old Ollie Sellers died on May 27, 2017 following a crash on the A4023 Coventry Highway in Redditch.
Ollie’s black Audi was hit by a red Seat driven by defendant Raeqa Liaqat as she was coming from the opposite direction.
Liaqat, who pleads not guilty to dangerous driving, crossed the central grass embankment in the middle of the highway before hitting Ollie’s car – believed to have killed him on impact.
On Monday, April 1 – day one of the trial – prosecutor Paul Whitfield told the jury that Liaqat was likely using her phone before the collision.
He said: “Police officers at the scene confirmed Liaqat made a phone call at 8.28pm on her mobile device.
“The collision happened at around 8.30pm. Her phone was discovered over an hour later by officers and the call was still ongoing.”
Mr Whitfield called witnesses Julie Gordon and Laura Johnson tothe stand, who both confirmed they called 999 after seeing the crash.
Both say they made the call ‘within a minute’ of seeing the collision happen.
Miss Gordon, who was driving behind Ollie, said: “Out of nowhere the red car came across the embankment and on to our side of the highway – smashing into the black car in front of me.
“I don’t remember the traffic being busy, it was quite late in the evening.
“I quickly turned to the side of the road to avoid being hit by several pieces of debris from the impact.
“It was so scary. Both cars were spinning together as if they were attached.”
Liaqat appeared emotional as Miss Gordon recalled her side of the events.
She said she went to check on Ollie but couldn’t get close enough to find out if he was still alive as the car was pinned against a nearby tree.
She noticed Liaqat was ‘squashed in the boot’ of her car due to the force of the impact.
Ollie’s father Paul Sellers said: “After nearly two years we’re hoping justice for Ollie is finally happening.”
The trial, which is expected to finish this Friday, continues tomorrow at 10am.
