Death crash driver jailed after sex act at 60mph

A motorist who became intimate with his girlfriend moments before he crashed his car has been sentenced to seven years for causing her death. Minesh Parbat, 36, of Maidenbower, Crawley, was driving his BMW at 60mph when he crashed on the A2011 in West Sussex, on 9 March 2014. His girlfriend, Lisa Watling, 28, was thrown from the car and died later in hospital from her injuries. Parbat denied causing her death but was found guilty after a trial in July.



He had claimed in court he dropped his trousers as part of a dare with mother-of-two Ms Watling. He told jurors she said she was feeling "horny" and invited him to pull down his trousers as he drove. He claimed she sat on the dashboard, then moved in front of him and obscured his view. But he denied anything sexual had taken place and said he struggled to get Ms Watling off him before the crash. Prosecutor Philip Meredith asked him: "You dropped your trousers and pants to play a part in this sexual act didn't you?

"The idea was to masturbate or be fellated. Whether having full intercourse in the driver's seat there's nothing else to explain it other than some sort of hand job or fellatio. That was what was really going on wasn't it?" Parbat denied the allegations and said he carefully stopped and applied the handbrake at a roundabout to pull his pants down to "half-mast". But the prosecution said he or his girlfriend lowered them while the car was moving. Jurors heard Parbat veered into the central reservation, then over-steered before crashing into a fence.



In the aftermath of the collision, Parbat was discovered with his trousers and underwear around his ankles. Ms Watling was found seriously injured in just a T-shirt and bra. Parbat gave a positive blood test showing 102 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The drink-drive limit is 80 milligrams. Jailing him, Recorder Peter Griffiths QC said Parbat was "entirely" responsible for causing the crash "while engaged in some form of sexual activity". Parbat was also disqualified from driving for seven years and told he must take an extended driving test before he is allowed to drive again.