A black cab driver, who fled a midnight hit-and-run and continued picking up passengers in his damaged taxi leaving his victim in the road has been jailed for four months.
MailOnline reports that London cabbie Farid Cheheb, (pictured left) fatally injured Irish barman Shane Scannell, 44, who died in hospital four days later surrounded by his devastated family.
Cheheb, 60, pleaded guilty to failing to stop after a road accident on May 21, 2023.
Cheheb, of Epsom, Surrey, was not charged with a more serious offence as a forensic police investigation found no fault with his driving.
As he was sentenced to four months imprisonment, and handed an eight month driving ban, Cheheb collapsed in the dock at Staines-upon-Thames Magistrates' Court, and was eventually taken away in an ambulance after an hour of medical attention in the court.
Prosecutor Amanda Burrows told the court on Thursday 2 May: "Very tragically it was the consequences of this defendant's actions that led to the death of Shane Scannell.
"Mr Cheheb was dropping off the passenger he was driving in South Street, Epsom when he collided with a pedestrian, Mr Scannell, who had left McCafferty's public house where he worked at around midnight."
Police officers investigating Mr Scannell's death 'considered a number of possible scenarios', the court was told, eventually concluding it was 'very unlikely' the victim had been 'upright and on two feet'.
"Maybe he had fallen and was in the process of getting to his feet when the vehicle collided with the victim and left him with traumatic injuries," the prosecutor said.
"Very quickly after the collision members of the public became aware of Mr Scannell in the road and he was attended to fairly rapidly after the impact and taken to St. George's Hospital, south-west London.
"Police made enquiries and traced the vehicle back to this defendant," said Ms Burrows. "There was damage to the vehicle consistent with the accident and he was arrested and interviewed.
"He said he was aware of the impact and thought he had hit a deer or a fox, but this was not accepted by the officers because the visibility should have allowed him to see what he had collided with."
Father-of-two Cheheb has been in the UK for thirty years, and has a 2009 offensive weapon conviction and one for assault in 2017.
His hackney carriage licence has been suspended for ten years.
His lawyer Suzy Wainscoat told the court: "Mr Cheheb accepts his responsibility for the tragic incident and extends his condolences to Mr Scannell's family and expresses remorse and regret for his actions.
"It is not suggested he was at fault with the standard of his driving. He was not speeding, he was not using his electronic devices, which the police have checked.
"He was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and he continued to work for a short period afterwards. Mr Scannell was not run over. He was at a low level to the ground, that is the police evidence."
Cheheb's lawyer described him as a 'well known and respected person in Epsom' that had been doing the 'train run' in the town for the last twenty years.
District Judge Julie Cooper told Cheheb the circumstances of the offence were so serious only an immediate custodial sentence could be justified.
"The police investigation shows you would have seen Mr Scannell in the road for ten metres.
"When you knew you had hit something you should have stopped to see what it was, even if it was an animal which you are not required to stop for, but could have called the RSPCA.
"You did not know what you had hit, but it could always be a person. It would take just seconds to see what you had done, but you carried on and picked up two more fares.
"This accident left a man dying in the road to the horror of his family and knowing he was left in that state will weigh heavily on them.
"I cannot pass sentence today other than a custodial one and that must be immediate. I cannot suspend that sentence."
At this point Cheheb collapsed to the floor of the dock and remained breathing, but unresponsive for some time as police and custody staff attended to him.
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In the early hours of Sunday, May 21, 2023, Farid Cheheb was driving his taxi when he struck 44-year-old Shane Scannell on South Street, Epsom.
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