Three members of a family who allegedly lied about a road accident in which a seven-year-old boy died have had their convictions quashed.
Sarjit Sahota, aged 28, his wife Sonia, aged 26, and his sister Salochana Devi, aged 24, of Mushroom Hall Road, Oldbury, were all convicted last November of perverting the course of justice after the car they were travelling in collided with Dexter Watts in Smethwick High Street. They were later jailed for nine months.
It was claimed that Sarjit Sahota had been at the wheel of the Vectra which struck Dexter and that the three of them then lied by saying that his wife had been the driver.
However, yesterday the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, sitting in Birmingham with Mr Justice McCombe and Mr Justice Wilkie as an appeal court, decided that the convictions had been unsafe.
Lord Phillips said there were a large number of eye witnesses who had supported the prosecution case that Sarjit Sahota was the driver, which appeared to be "overwhelming".
But he said that expert evidence concerning glass fragments which had been found on Sonia Sahota's hair and clothing had contradicted the prosecution case. ..SUPL:
