Indian-origin driver in UK dodges prison sentence in hit-an-run case

A 'remorseful' Indian-origin driver in the UK, who mowed down a woman in a hit-and-run case and drove-off from the scene to surf the Internet on the consequences of his actions, has dodged a prison sentence.

Balram Singh, 21, sped through a red light and ploughed into Kate Allan as he raced to the job centre in Bristol.

The 23-year-old Allan narrowly managed to move her head from out of the path of the car's wheels, but Singh drove off and left her screaming in agony on the road, the Daily Mail reported.

Judge Neil Ford spared him from prison because of his lack of previous convictions, early guilty pleas and 'genuine remorse'.

Ford imposed an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years, disqualified Singh from driving for two years, ordered one year's supervision, 300 hours of unpaid work, a four-month curfew and ordered him to pay Allan 1,500 pounds compensation.

Bristol Crown Court heard that Singh ignored witnesses' pleas to stop and drove off to a benefits office where he was late to collect a job seeker's allowance payment, which is 67.50 pounds a week.

Police soon tracked Singh down and when they spoke to him he asked "how is the lady?".

On being questioned as to why he had not stopped after the crash on December 29 last year, Prosecutor, Nadeem Aullybocus said that Singh told police, "I wanted to come home and look on the internet to see what would happen to me."

Allan suffered pain in her right leg, neck, ribs and down the left side of her body. She was off work for two weeks but was still getting pain two months later.