A frail man who covered for a killer by lying to the police has avoided jail after a judge decided he was too ill for prison.

Vehicle hire supervisor Abbas Khan, 61, of Lambourne Road, Seven Kings, protected customer Terrell Thuesday after the latter had mown down a delivery driver with his own van during a bungled theft in June.

Father of three Charles Bunyasi, 49, was killed by Thuesday while delivering flowers as a part-time job to support his children.

Thuesday had abandoned his own rented van – hired from Khan’s company Best Hire – to steal the vehicle in Coulsdon, South London.

Alison Morgan, prosecuting, said Khan lied to officers the day after Mr Bunyasi was killed by telling them the keys to Thuesday’s rented van had already been returned to the company as the vehicle had broken down.

He then contacted David Browne, a freelance vehicle removal man he knew, and introduced him to Thuesday so they could retrieve the van, which was trapped behind the police cordon at the scene.

The 47-year-old of Fulham Road, Fulham, who has also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice, is due to be sentenced on November 2.

Croydon Crown Court heard Khan has suffered two serious strokes in the last few years and his health had deteriorated after he was stabbed repeatedly in 2001 for helping police by giving evidence at a drugs trial.

Judge Warwick McKinnon told Khan he would not be going to prison because he was too ill, had helped at the drugs trial and had no previous convictions.

He said: “You were prevailed upon to engage in this deceit by Terrell Thuesday and you foolishly agreed to do it.”

Khan was sentenced to a 12 month jail term, suspended for two years, and ordered that he live and sleep at his home address for the next six months.

Thuesday, from Redsan Close, Croydon was jailed for six years in September for causing death by dangerous driving, and 12 months consecutively for attempting to pervert the course of justice.