A DRIVER who mowed down a 48-year-old husband and dad as he raced his car through a rainy town centre at night, has been jailed and banned from driving for six years.

As Fiaz Hussain Shah, 27, had effectively challenged Mohammed Azzizul Islam, 30, to a race along the A646, in dark and rain soaked conditions, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Popular butcher Wayne Stansfield was struck by a black Audi A3 and a silver Toyota Yaris as he crossed Halifax Road in Todmorden, just moments after enjoying a pint with his friend Gary Montgomery at The Duke of York pub.

Shah, of Wellington Street, Bury, who had an extensive criminal record for drug dealing and wounding, was jailed for six years and banned from driving for six years. Shah and Islam each admitted to causing death by dangerous driving.

Mr Stansfield’s wife Lisa Stansfield described the death of her husband and ‘protector’ as ‘brutal’. She said the death of her husband had ripped apart the lives of both her and their 16-year-old daughter Josie.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC described the case as ‘one of the gravest imaginable’, adding the pair ignored the ‘clear risk of great danger and death’ for the ‘thrill of the race’.

In a statement read to the court, Mrs Stansfield, said both she and her daughter had received bereavement counselling in the wake of the popular butcher’s death, who she described as their ‘protector’ and ‘voice of reason’.

She said: “He should never have died that way and we should never have had to experience the devastation of Wayne being so brutally removed from our lives.”

The judge said that the case, could easily have resulted in multiple deaths, as the pair raced through a busy town centre, attempting to undertake and overtake each other’s vehicle.

Father-of-two Islam, of Wellington Street, Todmorden, who had no criminal record and worked at a garage and part-time as a delivery driver, was jailed for four years and eight months and banned from driving for four years.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp said that Mr Montgomery, who was with Mr Stansfield when he was struck, feared he would also be run over.

He believed that at least one of the cars had swerved in his direction but the defendants insisted they had been attempting to avoid Mr Stansfield.

Mrs Stansfield also told police that she still found it difficult to travel into Todmorden town centre still, from the family home in nearby Walsden, because of the trauma attached to the scene of the crash, just yards from the Stansfield’s longstanding shop there.

Oliver Jarvis, for Islam, said that his client wanted to express his genuine remorse for his ‘disgraceful’ piece of driving but accepted this would be of little comfort to Mr Stansfield’s family and friends.

Timothy Clark, for Shah, said that his client was also remorseful and accepted he was facing a substantial prison sentence.

The Stansfield family, who attended court to see the defendants jailed, had run their own butchery business in Todmorden for decades.

Mr Stansfield’s funeral at the town’s St Mary’s Church, brought Todmorden to a standstill.

The popular butcher’s passing was also observed on the giant screen at Turf Moor, which he often attended as a Burnley FC supporter.