Wolverhampton death race driver changes his plea

Jatinder Paul had "goaded" 36-year-old garage boss Rajesh Chalotra into a race in Wolverhampton before tragedy struck.

Mr Chalotra later lost control of his Audi TT as 26-year-old Paul, a friend of his, overtook him in a four-litre Audi R8 capable of travelling up to 188mph in Finchfield Road West. The Audi TT smashed into a wall, killing Mr Chalotra.

Paul had previously denied being responsible for the crash but changed his plea to guilty on the second day of his trial at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday.

He stood head bowed in the dock as Judge Stuart Rafferty QC told him: "You and I know that you should have done this a long time ago.

"I understand the pressures this kind of case brings in both the family and the community but the fact remains that a friend of yours died because of you. There is a price to pay and, when the time comes, the price for you will be a prison sentence."

It was revealed that Paul was banned from driving when the crash happened and was at the wheel of a car that did not belong to him.

He fled from the scene after the crash shortly before midnight on June 24 last year and did not give himself up to police until four days later. The car he had been driving was then found parked in Bloxwich Road, Walsall, after police received a call telling them where to look for it.

Judge Rafferty will decide if it should be forfeited when Paul, formerly of Warstones Road, Warstones, and now living at Stanton Road, Great Barr, is sentenced on March 22.

Jag, the 39 year old brother of Mr Chalotra, who died two weeks before his 37th birthday, said after the case: "This is the day that my family and I have been waiting for since the accident. The past eight months have been traumatic for us all.

"Paul has ducked and dived since it happened and has made our lives hell. We even had to delay Raj's funeral for a month so that the defence could carry out their own post mortem. We could have been spared so much misery if Paul had made this admission from the outset."

Passengers in Mr Chalotra's car had told the court of the terrifying car journey. Father-of-three Mr Anand Singh Gill, who was the front seat passenger and survived, said: "Raj was going like a bat out of hell. I was worried for my own safety."