A TAXI driver involved in a car crash in which a man died has been fined - for having two furry dice hanging from his rear view mirror.

Javaid Alam was devastated following the accident in which dad Wayne Kerrigan was killed.

Mr Kerrigan, 28, stepped in front of his taxi in a poorly lit stretch of Rochdale Road, Collyhurst, after a night out with friends, an inquest into his death heard.

The coroner said Mr Alam, from Levenshulme, was not to blame for the death and there was no evidence to suggest there was anything wrong with his driving or his car.

But the dad, a taxi driver for 11 years, he has now been ordered to pay a £45 fine after being taken to court for having the dice and two air fresheners hanging in the car - even though prosecutors said they did not contribute to the cause of the accident.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the dice, which had been in the car for two years, had the `potential' to obstruct his view and charged him with failing to have a full view of traffic.

Mr Alam, 38, who pleaded guilty to failing to have a full view of traffic and has no previous driving convictions, said: "To pursue the furry dice seems so trivial when you think what the young man's family are going through.

Heartbroken

"I was heartbroken when I heard he had died, but it is nothing compared to what his family must feel. In 11 years I have never been involved in an incident in my taxi and when my car has been in for tests no one has ever told me the dice could be a problem.

"Paying a fine doesn't take away the fact that someone lost their life."

The inquest heard that Mr Kerrigan, of Burgin Walk, Collyhurst, who had a young daughter Poppy, had been at a party at The Swan pub last September when he stepped in front of the taxi as he waved goodbye to friends.

He suffered multiple injuries and was taken to North Manchester General Hospital where he died three days later.

Mr Kerrigan's father Joseph, 70, said: "I will never know who was at fault. I don't think this man deserves to go to prison but less than £50 because of some furry dice does not seem like justice for my son's life. He was a happy go lucky lad. That night was the first time he'd been out in a while."

A CPS spokesman said: "The size and position of the dice was such that the driver's vision had the potential to be obstructed.

"GMP indicated that their normal practice would have been to issue a fixed penalty notice."