LONDON: An Indian-origin man was today remanded in custody by a UK court on charges of three counts of death by dangerous driving car crash after a road collision that killed three teenage boys in London last week.
Jaynesh Chudasama appeared by Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court in London, where he was denied bail and remanded to appear before the Old Bailey court in London on February 26.
The 28-year-old had been arrested by Scotland Yard officers after a fatal collision near a bus stop in Hayes, west London, on Friday evening. The Metropolitan Police have named the victims of the crash as Harry Rice, 17, and 16-year-olds George Wilkinson and Josh McGuinness.
They were on their way to a friend’s birthday party when they were killed.
A second man, aged 34, was also arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving after handing himself in to a north London police station on Saturday evening, following a police appeal. He continues to remain is custody as he is questioned.
“Detectives from the Roads and Transport Policing Command continue to lead the investigation and a number of enquiries are ongoing,” said Superintendent Colin Wingrove, the local borough commander.
“There is understandably a lot of shock and grief in the local community. These three young men had their whole lives ahead of them,” he said.
The three victims were walking to a 16th birthday party at a local football club when a black Audi A5 allegedly crashed into them. Some of their friends who survived the crash are reported to have run after the occupants of the car to try and catch hold of them until the police arrived.
An Indian-origin man on the scene who called the emergency services number 999, Amandeep Matharoo, saw some of the boys “punching and kicking” a man who reportedly tried to flee the car involved in the crash.
“The lads were shouting on the phone and saying three of our friends are dead, they were hysterical and in pieces,” he said.
Despite the efforts of paramedics, all three boys were pronounced dead at the scene.
On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered at the site of the crash to lay floral tributes and held a minute’s silence and released balloons.
“We are all shocked and deeply saddened. Our thoughts and condolences are with their families, friends and loved ones. We are offering support to students and staff and ask everyone to respect their privacy. I would like to thank the community for the support it has given,” said the head-teacher of Harefield Academy, the school attended by the victims.
A friend of the dead boys who narrowly missed being hurt said the accident was like a “blur”.
“Five of us were walking to the party and the next moment three of my friends were dead on the ground. The car lost control,” he said.
Photos from the scene showed the smashed wreckage of a car, including a caved-in fence.
— PTI