Crash cabbie's appeal rejected

A taxi driver who ploughed into a car parked on a motorway hard shoulder, leaving a woman paralysed from the waist down, has failed to win a cut in his prison sentence.

Ejaz Hussain, 28, of Darlaston Road, Pleck, Walsall, was jailed for 18 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court last July for dangerous driving.

He had been taking his girlfriend to work when the accident happened on the M6 in the West Midlands in August 2002.

London's Criminal Appeal Court rejected Hussain's appeal against his sentence on Wednesday.

Paraplegic victim

Mr Justice Beatson, sitting with Lord Justice Mantell and Judge David Hodson, also refused to reduce the four-year driving ban imposed on the 28-year-old.

The judge said the sentence may be "severe" but said it was not "manifestly excessive" because of the way Hussain drove.

His trial heard how the taxi driver was tailgating and weaving in and out of traffic for a prolonged period before the crash.

A woman sitting in the back seat of the car Hussain smashed into is now a paraplegic needing round-the-clock care.

Hussain has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

His barrister argued on Wednesday that his client's lack of previous convictions, his remorse, and the fact the other car had been parked illegally, were not given sufficient recognition on sentencing.