A MOTORIST convicted of causing the death of a nine-year-old boy by dangerous driving was caught behind the wheel of a car while still disqualified following the 2017 incident.

Blackburn magistrates heard  Atif Dayaji was driving on the same road where the boy had died after being hit by a white BMW which Dayaji had hired earlier that day to attend a wedding.

At the time he was jailed for four years, for causing the death of Adam Limbada, Dayaji said in a letter to the court that he felt like he had lost a younger brother and asked for the family's forgiveness. He also said he wanted to express "how truly sorry I am."

Dayaji, 32, of St Stephens Avenue, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and without insurance after the latest incident on Whalley New Road. He was made subject to a community order for 12 months with a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 150 hours unpaid work. He was banned from driving for 24 months and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.

The crown court hearing in 2017 heard that seconds before his car collided with the boy, propelling him 20 metres, Dayaji had been doing 69mph in a 30mph zone. Experts calculated his speed at the time of impact as being between 41mph and 47mph. They said if he had been doing 30 mph he would have been able to stop.

Isaac Murza, defending, said his client had moved on with his life and was forming some kind of a career for himself through building work since his release from prison in November 2019.

"This was an isolated incident and there is nothing to suggest he has been driving since then," said Mr Murza.

"He was working and needed some tools and foolishly got into his friend's car to go and get them."

Judge Simon Newell, when passing sentence on Dayaji in 2017, slammed the 'stupidity' and 'bravado' of young men who hired high-powered cars for special occasions.