How an act of kindness put passer-by in path of killer driver

It was just two days after Christmas 2023 when Chris Marriott selflessly stepped in to help a stranger in need – a decision which led to him being fatally struck by a car used by its driver, Hassan Jhangur, as a weapon. What turned out to be the 46-year-old’s final act of kindness came as no surprise to those who knew the father-of-two from Sheffield, who has since been described as a “modern day Good Samaritan”.

Mr Marriott’s life was tragically cut short on 27 December, a wet and gloomy Wednesday, after a sudden break in the weather had prompted him, as well as Bryony – his wife of 16 years – and their two children, to head out for a stroll in Burngreave.

Midwife Alison Norris and her family had similarly taken the opportunity to get some fresh air and walk their dog.

Both their routes took them past College Close, and it was there they all came across Nafeesa Jhangur, who was lying motionless in the road.

Mr Marriott and Ms Norris rushed over to help – an instinctive act of public spirit that unwittingly placed them in the middle of a volatile family dispute.

“I later found out his name was Chris,” Ms Norris told the BBC.

“I didn’t know him, but I remember he was very sensible.”

Recollecting the scene, Ms Norris said Mr Marriott “checked she was breathing, checked there was a pulse, called the ambulance”.

“I was calming down thinking, ‘right, we just need to keep her stable until the ambulance comes’,” she said.

However, Ms Norris said that as she and Mr Marriott tended to Ms Jhangur, she saw a “brightly lit” car heading straight towards them.

The car, driven by Hassan Jhangur, first struck Riasat Khan, before then ploughing into the group of people who had gathered around Jhangur’s sister.

“Chris’s back was to the car and I was facing it,” Ms Norris said.

“I think if we’d been the other way round it would have been me.

“I couldn’t see him because of the way the car came between us and I remember thinking, ‘I hope he’s all right, I hope he’s all right, I hope he’s all right’.”

Mr Marriott died at the scene, while Mr Khan, Jhangur’s sister Nafeesa, their mother Ambreen and Ms Norris all suffered serious injuries.

A lengthy trial at Sheffield Crown Court, which has just concluded, heard that the horrific scenes then continued.

The jury was told that Jhangur, who is now 25, got out of the car and stabbed Hasan Khan, his new brother-in-law, several times in the head and chest.

The court heard that Mr Khan had married Amaani Jhangur just that morning, amid serious tensions between the families over its timing and location.

Following the lengthy trial Hassan Jhangur was found guilty of murder, as well as three counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and two of wounding with intent.

His father Mohammed Jhangur, 57, was convicted of perverting the course of justice.

Reflecting on what happened, Ms Norris said the tragedy was a stark reminder of how anger and the desire for revenge could lead to devastating consequences.

“We all have times when we are bitter, angry and fearful,” she said.

“We don’t have to act on that. We can check ourselves, then act from our best thinking, our kindness and our mutual respect.”

In the aftermath of the attack, Ms Norris said it was the support from her community that carried her and her family through “the dark times”.

“When I was shocked and injured, friends from all communities turned up and walked the dog, and brought food.

“They sat with me and offered to go with us when it was hard to walk by the scene,” she said.

Ms Norris recalled a small but powerful moment of recovery: riding her bicycle again for the first time after overcoming her fear of traffic which had emerged following the events in Burngreave.

She explained that one of the local taxi drivers spotted her, stopped and clapped, genuinely delighted at her progress.

“People’s kindness was humbling,” she said.

A memorial service for Mr Marriott reflected the deep love and respect he had inspired in both the congregation at City Church Sheffield, of which he was a member, and also among those closest to him.

He was a steady presence, described as someone on whom people could rely, and a natural bridge-builder who brought people together.

Friends remembered him as the kind of person who would take a day off work just to support someone feeling unwell – a man whose quiet acts of care spoke volumes about his character.

Ben Gibbins, Mr Marriott’s friend of nearly 30 years, said: “Chris was just a great guy to be around.

“From your interactions with him, you always came away feeling loved and cared for, and you always had a laugh, always had a joke.”

Mr Gibbins said that while Mr Marriott’s death had left an immense hole in his life, he would remain inspired by his friend’s decision to help someone in need.

“I can’t think of anything else I should be doing, or could be doing, but doing the same thing and being a Good Samaritan and hopefully, in some small way, making a difference in other people’s lives,” he said.

Meanwhile, at Jubilee+, a Christian anti-poverty organisation where Mr Marriott worked as a conference administrator for several years, his loss has also been felt deeply.

Chief executive Natalie Williams said: “When I heard how Chris died, my first thought was that it was so in keeping with who he was.

“It was no surprise to me at all that he died helping someone else.

“Chris was a man of very, very strong faith, and his faith in Jesus motivated him to want to be a Good Samaritan in all areas of his life.

“It wasn’t just a one-off thing for him. It was a day-by-day decision to do good for other people.”

Graham Pyman, director of ChristCentral Churches, who had worked with Mr Marriott for more than a decade, compared his actions to the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, who helped an injured stranger.

Mr Pyman described Mr Marriott as the “modern day version of that”.

“I think we can all learn something from Chris’s life,” he explained.

“Whether you are a person of faith or not, just the attitude of putting other people before yourself is certainly something he demonstrated in the way he lived and, indeed, sadly in the way he died.”