Detective Constable Spencer

The appellant, Furqan Akhtar, appealed his convictions for dangerous driving, criminal negligence, and street racing causing death and bodily harm, following a jury trial.

The appeal raised three grounds: misdirection on the mens rea for dangerous driving and criminal negligence, inadequate jury instruction on the effect of a co-accused's abscondment, and error in instructing the jury on the use of the appellant's prior Highway Traffic Act infractions for credibility assessment.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no reversible error in the dangerous driving and criminal negligence instructions, and that the instruction on the co-accused's abscondment was sufficient.

While the instruction on prior HTA infractions was deemed an error, it was cured by the proviso as it caused no substantial wrong or miscarriage of justice given the overwhelming evidence against the appellant's credibility.

The accused, Furqan Akhtar and Saifullah Dero, were found guilty by a jury of criminal negligence causing death and two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm while street racing.

The offences involved racing at high speeds (up to 144 km/h in a 60 km/h zone) on a city street, resulting in a fatal collision that killed one person and seriously injured two others.

The court considered aggravating factors such as the extreme speed, dangerous driving on a busy city street, and the horrific consequences, balanced against mitigating factors including the youth of the first-time offenders and their rehabilitative prospects.

The court imposed a concurrent sentence of 30 months imprisonment for each accused, along with a 10-year driving prohibition, a 10-year weapons prohibition, a DNA order, and forfeiture of the vehicles.