A taxi driver tearfully told an inquest jury of the horrifying moment he hit a man in his car on a motorway who later died in hospital.
Ghulum Murtaza – praised by the jury and a coroner for bravery over his actions in the immediate aftermath of the collision – said Benjamin Connor, 30, ‘all of a sudden came in front of my car’ from a central reservation of the M602 in Salford.
An inquest into his death at Bolton Coroners’ Court heard on Thursday (January 17) father-of-three Mr Connor had been walking into oncoming traffic near the Regent Road roundabout at the time.
Private hire driver Mr Murtaza said he was driving his Renault Megane towards Manchester at the time and no passengers were inside. He described it as a ‘quiet run’ in the early hours. Mr Murtaza said he saw Wythenshawe-born Mr Connor and tried to react, but could not avoid the collision. He told the jury: “I tried to avoid him, but it was a fraction of a second.”
He said he thought another motorist was going to ‘run him over again’, so he stopped the car then ran over to him, picked him up and put him down on the central reservation.
Giving evidence on the fourth day of the inquest, he said he tried to stop other cars to help, but none pulled over. He immediately dialled 999. “The next morning, it came to my knowledge that Mr Connor had passed away,” Mr Mr Murtaza told the jury. “It was quite tough. I was quite traumatised. I did not sleep for weeks. This whole thing has changed my life.
The M602 in Salford
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“When I saw him, I was shocked and panicked. I did not know what to do.” He said he cried ‘for hours’ after the incident, but was praised for what he did in the aftermath by the jury and coroner Peter Sigee. The inquest heard his car was fully roadworthy.
CCTV was reviewed as part of an accident investigation. The jury was told 13 vehicles were seen to pass Mr Connor as he walked ‘against the flow of traffic’ in and out of live lanes, with the probe concluding it was ‘likely’ that Mr Murtaza had ‘insufficient time and distance to respond’ to him.
Mr Connor was said to have moved ‘quickly and suddenly’ into the path of his taxi.
Another witness, Craig Brown, said he saw Mr Connor ‘in the middle of the road’ walking with his arms inside a top he was wearing to keep warm. Mr Brown said Mr Connor wasn’t staggering and didn’t appear to be intoxicated.
He was taken to Salford Royal Hospital after the 2.40am collision on December 28, 2021, but died from his injuries later. Tests showed alcohol and cannabis present in his urine and blood.
The jury has heard Mr Connor was detained by police at a house in Rusholme, Manchester, at around 12.40am that morning following reports by the owner he was armed with a knife and refusing to leave.
He ended up being dropped off by police and ‘de-arrested’ at Cornbrook Metrolink tram stop – almost two hours before the collision.
Officers said they believed he ‘didn’t pose a risk to himself’, the jury has been told, but Mr Connor’s family have criticised the decision.
His mother wrote a letter to the coroner’s court saying: “I want to know how and why the police let my son go on that night as it was evident that he was in no fit state to be left alone. I can’t understand why he was not locked up.
“Dumped at Cornbrook station with no money, phone or transport at Christmas. Our family is broken.”
The inquest continues.