
A private hire driver has avoided prison after running over a 68-year-old pensioner in Gosforth, causing catastrophic injuries that ultimately resulted in the victim losing his lower left leg.
Hasan Goni, 43, was rushing to pick up a Blueline customer on October 21, 2024, when he made a right turn off Great North Road and struck the elderly pedestrian.
The victim, who was using a walking stick following a recent hip replacement, was hit at around 3pm after leaving a doctors' surgery.
Prosecutor Nicoleta Alistari told Newcastle Crown Court that Goni failed to see the man crossing the street, stating: "The front of the Ford struck him and threw him into the air. He felt immediate pain in both legs."
Goni, who tested negative for alcohol and drugs, stopped immediately to call 999. Witnesses noted his first words upon exiting his Ford Mondeo were, "I was going 20."
The victim was rushed to the intensive care unit at the Royal Victoria Infirmary with fractures to his femur, neck, and ribs. His condition worsened during a four-month hospital stay, where he contracted pneumonia and severe infections, forcing doctors to amputate his lower left leg.
In a statement read to the court, the victim revealed he had undergone three operations and now suffers from flashbacks.
Defending counsel Christopher Knox argued that Goni was not speeding and blamed the collision on a "momentary lapse of concentration."
Mr. Knox added: "It is unfortunate that he has not seen the injured party crossing the road. He very much regrets it." The court heard that Goni, a licensed driver for seven years, has since lost his livelihood.
Goni pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless driving.
On Friday 3 July, Judge Robert Adams sentenced him to 25 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months.
Goni was also ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work, 20 rehabilitation days, and has been banned from driving for 18 months.

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