A woman who killed her friend in a 143mph Lamborghini crash before trying to blame him for the collision has been jailed for 10 years.
Humaira Batool, 26, was behind the wheel of the rented Lamborghini Urus when she lost control on the M62 in West Yorkshire in the early hours of December 21, 2022. Her friend Mohammed Shaan Hussain, 20, was trapped inside after the car struck a barrier, overturned and burst into flames. Passing motorists desperately tried to reach him but were unable to save him.
High-speed driving in darkness and rain
Batool had been driving the 600bhp supercar at extraordinary speeds despite darkness, rain and treacherous road conditions. Prosecutors said she repeatedly accelerated beyond 100mph but slowed when approaching speed cameras and bends.
Prosecutor Christopher Dunn told Leeds Crown Court: “This defendant was entirely in control throughout - and that was conspicuously obvious from camera footage which showed that she slowed down for speed cameras and to negotiate bends, then accelerated to eye-watering speeds.”
The Lamborghini was travelling at around 120mph shortly before the horror crash. The car left the carriageway, struck a barrier and overturned before catching on fire. Mohammed was fatally injured, while Batool escaped from the wreckage and was later found on a grass verge with burns to around 10% of her body and a shattered tibia.
Claims rejected by the jury
Batool initially told police she had been asleep in the passenger seat and woke as the Lamborghini rolled. She later admitted she had been driving and claimed Mohammed had interfered with controls inside the car, causing a mysterious “boost” which made it “surge”. However, a Lamborghini expert told jurors there were no buttons, levers or controls capable of producing the acceleration she described.
Judge Singh rejected her account, telling her: “During the trial, various alternative explanations were advanced on your behalf, all of which were rejected – the possibility of mechanical failure, aquaplaning and your suggestion that, just prior to the collision, the controls of that vehicle had been tampered with by Shaan. The jury rejected those explanations. I do likewise. The sole cause of this collision was the manner of your driving. You deliberately exposed your passenger, yourself and other road users to an obvious and grave risk.”
Footage shown to the jury saw Mohammed and Batool swapping seats at the traffic lights before she took the wheel. Batool was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving following a trial at Leeds Crown Court in September.
Arrest at hospital and sentencing
Her sentencing had originally been due to take place on Monday but was abandoned when she failed to attend court. Her barrister said an endometriosis flare-up had led her to go to A&E, while the prosecution accused her of using the hospital visit to avoid sentencing. Judge Singh issued a warrant for her arrest and Batool was detained at hospital before being kept in custody overnight.
Sentencing her at Leeds Crown Court, Judge Singh told her: “This was a tragic and entirely avoidable death. Mohammed Shaan Hussain was only 20 years old. He was your friend and his life was brought to a sudden and horrific end in the early hours of December 21, 2022. The circumstances in which he died are particularly distressing.”
The judge added: “The suffering he endured in those final moments is difficult to understate. You sought to attribute responsibility to Shaan for the collision. The family explain that aspect of proceedings significantly compounded their suffering during their grief.”
Family's statement and sentence
Batool was jailed for 10 years and banned from driving for a decade. She will also have to pass an extended retest before she can drive again. In a victim impact statement, Mohammed’s parents said: “The loss of our son has taken an enormous toll on our entire family. His death has affected each of us in different ways but none of us have been able to return to the life we had before he was taken from us.”
They added: “Since that day, our world has stopped. We look for him, call his name and then remember - and the pain comes all over again every single day. Instead of being allowed to mourn our son, we’ve had to listen to others try to blame him, to tarnish his name, to make him responsible for his own death. This has prolonged our agony 1,000 times.”
Defence barrister Richard Dawson told the court: “Humaira and Shaan grew up together. Their respective families - pre-collision - were very close. She has been very affected by the loss of her friend.” He added: “She has struggled every day with the consequences of this collision. She cannot bear that she is responsible for the death of another person, let alone a close friend.”
