A lying Mercedes driver who killed a woman after ploughing head on into her car while distracted by his mobile phone then tried to blame his victim. Mohammed Javadpour, 53, launched a desperate bid to cover up his selfish actions just moments after the crash in Stockport, which ultimately killed 56-year-old Elaine Goodwin.
Ms Goodwin, a self-employed nail technician, had nipped out to the shops to buy some milk when Javadpour crashed into her Vauxhall Corsa with his Mercedes SUV. Shortly after the smash, he arranged for someone to travel to the scene of the crash on Bramhall Lane South to remove the phone he had used to make a call about a minute prior to impact, before police were able to search his car.
Ms Goodwin died 12 days later after suffering terrible injuries. Her parents were on holiday in Tenerife at the time and faced an agonising wait to get home to be by her side in hospital, after initially having difficulty arranging a flight home. Her cat Mij was so traumatised that it had to be put down.
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Her sister Karen Kendrick hit out at Javadpour, who eventually pleaded guilty on the eve of a trial. Even on the day he was sentenced, he tried to wriggle out of his guilty plea and claim he had been badly advised by his legal team.
"He has shown himself to be dishonest," Karen, 60, told the Manchester Evening News. "He has taken no consideration of our legal system or us as a family. As far as I am concerned he has shown no remorse whatsoever."
She said he'd displayed 'utter contempt and disregard' for her family. Ms Goodwin's 85-year-old mother Joyce was also in court to see Javadpour being locked up for five years.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard Javadpour was on his way home to Woodford after driving to a chemist and picking up a takeaway pizza on Tuesday, November 19, 2019. He moved onto Bramhall Lane South, a road which requires 'considerate' driving and includes a blind bend to the left, at about 8.30pm.
Instead of steering to the left, Javadpour continued into the middle of the carriageway and onto the wrong side of the road, colliding head on into Ms Goodwin's car. "Instead of concentrating on the road in front of you, you decided to concentrate on your mobile phone," Judge John Potter told him.
"This decision by you, reckless, crass and dangerous as it was, was to have fatal consequences." Moments after impact, Javadpour arranged for someone to attend the scene and remove the phone he had made a call on prior to the crash.
"You knew what you had done, you considered the consequences of what had occurred," Judge Potter told him. "You thought you would try to rid yourself of the mobile phone for fear that its contents would reveal its use by you moments before the fatal collision."
After the crash Javadpour 'quite shockingly' tried to blame Ms Goodwin for causing the collision, saying she had driven on the wrong side of the road and he'd swerved to avoid her. The lie was blown out of the water by an expert reconstruction.
Then Javadpour tried to blame a 'fictitious' third driver for the incident. When he was sentenced on Wednesday morning, Javadpour arrived with a new barrister who said the defendant wanted to withdraw his guilty plea. In a pre-sentence report, Javadpour claimed he had felt 'pressurised' into pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
But Judge Potter dismissed the bid as being 'without merit' and a 'cynical attempt to manipulate the court process'. Before locking up Javadpour for five years, Judge Potter said: "Elaine Goodwin died when she was 56-years-old, she still had much of her life to look forward to.
"She was a much loved daughter and sister. She was highly talented in her area of work and gave much to others with her personality, her smile, her warmth, her laughter and her love.
"It is quite clear that Ms Goodwin's sister and her parents are utterly heartbroken by the consequences of what you did." She died on November 24, 12 days after the crash in which she sustained grave injuries, including a broken vertebrae in her neck, broken ribs and a broken ankle.
Her sister Karen said the true horror of what her sibling had suffered hit home when she saw her connected to so many wires and tubes in hospital. Their parents were on holiday and were desperate to get a flight home to be by their daughter's side. Karen took them straight to the hospital after midnight after arriving back in the UK on November 19.
Ms Goodwin's cat Mij had to be put down after becoming so traumatised by her not being around, Karen said. They offered it to several animal shelters, but it would not settle.
She was described by Karen and her mother as a 'bubbly' and 'colourful', and said her death has left a 'huge hole' in the family. Her father Geoff has become fearful of driving as he often passes the scene of the collision.
Defending, Colin Buckle said Javadpour, who has previous convictions for driving while disqualified and driving while uninsured, had not been speeding or under the influence of drink or drugs. He said Javadpour, who followed proceedings in court via an interpreter, would 'struggle' in custody and was also injured in the crash.
Javadpour, of Ringway Avenue, Stockport, will serve half of his sentence in jail. He was also banned from driving for five-and-a-half years. The M.E.N. asked GMP for a mug shot of Javadpour, but the force said they didn't have one.
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