Three sentenced for Rolls Road hit-and-run

36-year-old Market Porter Tashkin Mehmedagi of Merrow Street in Walworth received an 18 month jail sentence for dangerous driving and a further 12 months for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Retail assistant Jessica Spencer, 37, also of Merrow Street SE17, received a 12 month rehabilitation order and 100 hours community service for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Rotherhithe resident Dean Julian, aged 37, also a market porter, received 12 months jail sentence for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

All three pleaded not guilty when the trial began at the Inner London Crown Court on 24 March. They were found guilty of perverting the course of justice on 28 March. Mehmedagi was also found guilty of dangerous driving on Monday 31 March.

The court heard that on 13 July 2001, at about 9.20pm, a Peugeot 106 was being driven in excess of the 30 mph speed limit, and on the wrong side of the road, in Rolls Road, SE1, when it collided with a pedestrian. The car failed to stop at the scene but a few minutes later, the car pulled up outside Mardyke House, Townend St, SE17.

Three people had been in the car. The driver and front seat passenger set the car alight and then all three made off. The pedestrian, 35-year-old Martin Sage, was treated by the Air Ambulance and taken to King's College Hospital in Camberwell suffering from severe head injuries.

An off-duty police officer was riding a bicycle in the area and saw the incident. He took the registration number of the Peugeot and very soon after, police attended the address of the registered keeper, Jessica Spencer, who claimed the vehicle was stolen.

A 20-month investigation was conducted by the Met's South East Traffic Unit led by PC John Cox. The driver was identified on an ID parade as Tashkin Mehmedagi, the husband of Jessica Spencer. DNA from the scene was traced to Dean Julian, who was a passenger in the car.

Spencer was arrested on 25 July for attempting to pervert the course of justice. She continued to claim the car was stolen. But PC Cox had done some research on the steering column of the Peugeot which was fitted with an immobiliser. The court heard from expert witnesses that Spencer's claim that the car had been stolen could not be true.

PC Cox said: "This was a complex and lengthy investigation involving extensive enquiries in order to track down witnesses.

"Mehmedagi used his wife's car regularly even though he did not have a full license or insurance. On the night of the incident, he and Dean Julian used the roads with a total disregard for others, resulting in Mr Sage's serious and lasting injuries.

"Between them, they lied to cover their involvement. I am glad for Martin Sage and his family that they have been tried and convicted for their actions that night."