Man who deliberately mowed down man convicted of manslaughter
A man who deliberately drove a car at a group of people in east London, causing fatal injuries to one of them, has been convicted of manslaughter. Riyaz Adam, 25 of Pearcroft Road, E11, appeared at the Old Bailey charged with murder, attempted murder, and perverting the course of justice. Following a trial, Adam was today – Thursday, 28 November – found guilty of manslaughter. The jury returned not guilty verdicts for murder and attempted murder. He had pleaded guilty to the perverting the course of justice before the trial started. He will be sentenced on Wednesday, 4 December at the same court. The jury were unable to reach a decision on his co-defendant Jack Bush, 23, of Oakdale Road, E11. Constantin, originally from Romania, was driven at and hit by a car while he was out in the early hours of Sunday, 5 May, celebrating a christening. The court heard how Adam drove a Toyota Prius to High Road in Leytonstone to meet his co-accused, Jack Bush. As he pulled up, he could see Bush, who was drunk, apparently fighting with a group of men. It was at this point that he decided to use his car as a weapon, and drove forward, swerving towards and into the group. Adam then made a three-point turn. The car was facing back towards the group for a second time and driven back and right into the middle of the other group – the people that he believed were fighting his friend. As a result, his car struck two of those men. Police were called at 00:40hrs to reports of a car in collision with two pedestrians and both Constantin and his friend were taken to hospital by the London Ambulance Service. Constantin died on Tuesday, 7 May. He had been thrown onto the bonnet and hit the windscreen. Adam accelerated away with the 51-year-old victim still on the bonnet, before steering in a left to right motion to shake Constantin off the car. He then travelled about 20 metres along the road before coming to rest in the middle of the road. A post-mortem examination at Walthamstow Mortuary on Thursday, 9 May found the cause of death to be multiple injuries. Constantin had suffered
