A Knightsbridge street was a scene of carnage after an Audi crashed into a string of supercars. Simon Harris/YouTube
A Knightsbridge street was a scene of carnage after an Audi crashed into a string of supercars. Simon Harris/YouTube
A Knightsbridge street was a scene of carnage after an Audi crashed into a string of supercars. Simon Harris/YouTube
A Knightsbridge street was a scene of carnage after an Audi crashed into a string of supercars. Simon Harris/YouTube

London driver who trashed supercars worth £1m given suspended sentence


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A delivery driver who trashed £1 million ($1.3m) worth of supercars by speeding in one of London’s most affluent neighbourhoods has had his jail sentence suspended.

Ahmed Al Husseini, 25, was caught on camera chasing a McLaren SLR in his Audi A8 before colliding with it, flying through the air and smashing into metal railings outside a terraced home in Chelsea.

CCTV footage of the moment, which shows the Audi rebounding off several other vehicles before flipping and coming to a standstill, was widely shared online.

The collision damaged a row of cars, many of which were extremely expensive.

The defendant admitted damaging a £300,000 McLaren, a parked Porsche Cayenne worth about £100,000 and a blue Bentley worth £200,000.

Two other Porches, two Audi Q7s, a Mitsubishi Outlander and a Land Rover Discovery were also hit in the crash.

The flying Audi bore the brunt of the blow, as did the McLaren, and Mr Al Husseini was rushed to hospital.

Residents said it was a miracle no one was killed in the carnage.

The court heard that the delivery driver was hitting more than 130kph in a 50kph speed zone.

Mr Al Husseini was given a 10-month jail sentence on Wednesday, suspended for 18 months.

He was placed under an electronically monitored curfew, from 8am to 8pm,  for four months.

Mr Al Husseini was also disqualified from driving for two years, with 20 days of rehabilitation activity required.

He now has to complete an extended driving test to regain his licence.

Mr Al Husseini claimed in court that he had no recollection of the incident. He had a driving licence for a year and no previous convictions.

Defence lawyer Tony Nayager said Mr Al Husseini suffered an open head wound after the accident.

“It is frankly a miracle that no one was seriously hurt, perhaps other than you," Judge Sarah Paneth told him.

“It's perhaps a credit to Audi engineering that you weren't and your passenger escaped serious injury too.

“It was quite clear that what you did was totally out of character and I accept that.

“It was your admission that you were racing effectively to try and catch up with that vehicle.

“You have suffered the consequences perhaps more than anyone else. You continue to have flashbacks and are unable to get into a car.

"It is the highly unusual circumstances in this case and the lack of all the aggravating features.”

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Our legal advisor

Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.

Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation. 

Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.

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