A woman convicted of causing the death of her friend in a 143mph Lamborghini crash failed to appear for sentencing, prompting a judge to issue a warrant for her arrest. Humaira Batool, 26, from Bradford, was due to be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.
Batool was convicted in September over the death of Mohammed Shaan Hussain, 20, also from Bradford. The crash happened on December 21, 2022, when the rented £220,000 Urus supercar smashed through a barrier on the M62 near Ripponden, West Yorkshire. The vehicle flipped over and burst into flames, with Mr Hussain trapped inside as passing drivers tried to save him.
Seat-swap caught on CCTV
During the trial, Batool claimed she had been asleep in the passenger seat at the time of the crash. However, CCTV footage showed the pair swapping seats at traffic lights moments before the collision, proving Batool had been driving. When confronted with the footage, she admitted to driving but said Mr Hussain had been interfering with the car's controls, causing it to repeatedly surge in speed.
A Lamborghini specialist told the court that no mechanism could cause the car's speed to jump in that way, apart from a driver's "right foot".
Warrant issued after no-show
Batool failed to attend her sentencing hearing, claiming a flare-up of endometriosis had led her to visit A&E in the early hours of the morning. Judge Ray Singh said he suspected she was using this as a ploy to avoid her sentence and issued a warrant for her arrest.
"The night before she is due to be sentenced in connection with this matter a call is made to the emergency services, who attend and advise her to go to A&E," he said. "They felt this was not life threatening and, indeed, did not feel it was necessary to rush her in an ambulance.
"I'm told that is where she is at the moment, and it may well be the case. I'm afraid I do come to the conclusion, despite all that has been said to me, that this is a case where she is avoiding being dealt with, by way of sentence. Accordingly, I do issue a warrant for her arrest to be brought back before myself at the very earliest opportunity."
Prosecutor Christopher Dunn called her illness a "ruse", adding: "The defendant has lied from first to last and has attempted, on a number of occasions, to thwart the proceedings. It is entirely clear that she is trying to avoid justice."
The warrant means Batool will be brought back before the court at the earliest opportunity to face sentencing.
