A driver who killed a motorcyclist in a “senseless, wholly avoidable” crash has been jailed for 51 weeks. 

Mohammed Asim, 25, admitted causing death by careless driving when he swerved his Lexus in a u-turn into the path of Kamrul Hasan in London Road, West Croydon.

After the December 29 collision he drove away and left 23-year-old Mr Hasan, who planned to return to his native Bangladesh to get married this year, to die in the street.

Asim had been due to stand trial for causing death by dangerous driving at Croydon Crown Court yesterday but pleaded guilty after prosecutors switched to the lower charge.

He has been in custody since handing himself in to police the day following the crash, meaning he will be freed on June 23 after serving half his jail term.

Sentencing him, Judge Warwick McKinnon, the Recorder of Croydon, said: “The pain, grief and all-encompassing anguish of losing a love one in such a tragic, senseless, wholly avoidable and utterly premature death can hardly be imagined, never mind recovered from.

“No sentence I can pass can restore the human life that has been lost; it cannot turn the clock back.”

Mr Hasan’s family spoke of their disappointment at the length of the sentence.

Moktar Hossin, his brother-in-law, said: “He is out at the end of this month. I was expecting two or three years. He has taken someone’s life.”

CCTV footage played in court showed Asim driving up and down London Road at about 1am on the morning of the crash, performing u-turns and running a red light.

Mr Hasan was speeding at between 40mph and 48mph when he approached and was forced to brake sharply, the court heard.

He lost control, was flung from his Yahama and slid into the car, with his bike landing on top of him.

Mr Hasan, a business management student at the London College of Advanced Studies, had been due to return to Dhaka in three months to start a new job and marry his fiancée.

Prosecutor Ian Paton told the court Mr Hasan’s death had devastated his sister Suria Khatun and her two daughters with Mr Hossin, with whom he lived in North Finchley after moving to the UK five years ago, and his family back in Bangladesh.

He added: “The loss of Mr Hasan has had a big impact on many people.”

Asim’s lawyer, Henry Hughes, said in mitigation he had shown “enormous remorse”.

He added: “To be responsible for the death of another human being is a terrible burden for anybody to carry.

“In this case what is crystal clear is that when he was out that night he did not want to harm anybody. It is clear that his actions caused the most terrible harm and that’s a burden he will have to carry for the rest of his life.

“He tells me he has barely slept throughout the last five months.”

Mr Hughes suggested Asim pleading guilty to failing to stop at the crash, despite prosecutors indicating the charge could lie on file, was a sign of his remorse.

But Judge McKinnon described the failure to stop as a “significant aggravating feature”, adding Asim had built up an “ugly driving record” that also included convictions for careless driving, driving under the influence of alcohol, and a previous failure to stop.

He said it was “easy to suspect” why Asim, who had been caught drink-driving in London Road in October, had driven away from the fatal crash.

He added: “Instead of doing as any decent citizen would have done, and getting out of the vehicle on feeling the impact, you switched off your lights and left the scene.

“Effectively you left the poor man to die on the street.”

He banned Asim from driving for three years, after which he will be required to pass an extended test before returning to the roads.

Speaking outside court, Mr Hossin, 31, said: “We accept it. It is three years that he can’t drive.

“It should have been longer in jail but we cannot do anything about it. I am relieved it is over, but we are sad.”