Richard Radbourne, aged 47, tragically passed away from multiple traumatic injuries, including a severed spinal cord and brain damage, after Murat Karakas drove his Audi Q3 into him while he was riding his Harley Davidson on Comberford Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire, on March 3. Mr. Radbourne was trailing Max Karakas at the time.
Murat Karakas, 51, armed himself with a small rounders bat after discovering a disagreement between his son and Mr. Radbourne, who was an HGV driver, and then got into his car to confront them as the motorcyclist followed his son.
During the hearing at Stafford Crown Court, it was revealed that Max Karakas and Mr. Radbourne were exceeding 70mph in a 30mph zone when Murat Karakas approached them head-on. He allowed his son’s vehicle to pass before veering over the central line and colliding with the motorcyclist.
In court, prosecuting barrister Michael Burrows KC described Murat Karakas, residing on Gillway Lane in Tamworth, as having driven his “large vehicle at a motorcycle intent on inflicting significant harm” on Mr. Radbourne, who was thrown from his bike as a result.
A post-mortem examination indicated that Mr. Radbourne suffered severe injuries, which included brain hemorrhaging, damage to his brain stem, a severed spinal cord, a torn aorta, as well as fractures in his spine and thigh bones. He was pronounced dead at the scene despite emergency services’ attempts to revive him.
Judge Kristina Montgomery KC stated that Karakas, who initially trained as a teacher in Turkey before moving to the UK to become a boiler and gas engineer, had intentionally created a barrier with his vehicle to obstruct Mr. Radbourne, who was reportedly intoxicated on the night of the incident.
She remarked: “When you observed your son’s vehicle approaching, with the motorcycle behind it, you slowed and swerved over the central lines into the path of Mr. Radbourne, allowing your son to pass unimpeded.
“The ensuing crash was unavoidable and the repercussions were foreseeable to anyone. Mr. Radbourne was launched a considerable distance from his motorcycle. The impact was so severe that to a trained police officer, it was unrecognizable as a Harley Davidson.”
While Karakas expressed remorse following the incident by calling for an ambulance and submitting a letter to the court expressing his devastation, Judge Montgomery indicated that he had not fully accepted responsibility for his actions.
“While I believe your remorse is genuine in the sense that you did not intend this outcome, reconciling your words with the evidence presented at trial is challenging,” she stated.
“True remorse entails accountability, and I do not find that you have taken responsibility for your behavior.”
“Utilizing your considerable vehicle in an attempt to block an oncoming motorcyclist, thereby causing a collision, was an incredibly reckless act. There was a palpable danger posed to the rider.”
She noted that Karakas appeared to be more focused on his own safety after the crash, as he handed the bat to a family member to discreetly remove it from the scene before it could be discovered by law enforcement.
Judge Montgomery mandated that Karakas serve two-thirds of his 11-year sentence in prison before becoming eligible for release on license. He was also prohibited from driving for five years following his release and must undergo an extended retest prior to regaining driving privileges.
In a statement presented in court on Friday, Kevin Radbourne, Mr. Radbourne’s father, characterized his son as having a “wicked sense of humor and a cheeky smile,” emphasizing that his motorcycle was his “pride and joy.”
He conveyed: “Losing my son in such a senseless and tragic manner is profoundly difficult to comprehend.
“He was my youngest son, my baby. Though he was 47, he remained very precious to me. We are left with an unfillable void.”