Triple death crash teen jailed for just six years
THE heartbroken families of three young men killed in a horror crash have slammed the ‘two years per life’ sentence handed to the teenage driver.
Arayeb Saqib was ‘high on cannabis’ when he sped away from police in the Audi S5 he was illegally driving at speeds of ‘up to 120mph’ before crashing in Whalley Range in the early hours of April 27.
His passengers Hamzaa Iqbal, 24, from Burnage and Mohammad Hamza Gujjar, 21, from Bramhall were killed instantly. Their friend Munib Karim, 20, from Heald Green died the following day.
A fourth passenger Suhaib Aziz, 19, ‘miraculously’ survived, but suffered serious injuries in the high-speed collision on Wilbraham Road.
Saqib - who did not have a driving licence emerged from the car on his hands and knees and denied he was the driver to the pursuing police officer.
He later told Mr Karim’s sister at the memorial site where she had been lighting candles for her brother, that he was ‘really sorry’ and that he had taken cannabis before getting into the car.
The three dead men had been attending the wedding of Mr Karim’s sister at Nawaab restaurant in Levenshulme hours before the crash.
Saqib had not hired the car nor had he attended the wedding itself, but met up with the group later and took the wheel. During the hearing it emerged the car had been falsely rented using the name of one of the passengers’ brothers and that noone in the vehicle had the authority or the insurance to drive it.
Saqib was jailed for six years and banned from the roads for eight years on his 18th birthday at Manchester Crown Court.
Mr Iqbal’s brother Usman said that any chance of convincing young speeding drivers to slow down has been ruined.
“We were trying to raise awareness because speeding is rife amongst the young Asian community,” he said.
“These young lads don’t understand what they are doing and have no experience with these high-powered cars.
“If you abuse a car it becomes a deadly weapon.
“How can we deter people from speeding when today shows you can butcher three people and get away with it? Six years is nothing.”
Saqib pleaded guilty to three charges of causing death by dangerous driving and one charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Mr Brendan O’Leary defending, said Saqib had apologised to the victims’ families.
He said: “He took it upon himself to go to the house where he knew the bereaved families were, he sat down in a room and told them. He will live with this for the rest of his life.”