HUMAIRA BATOOL ARRESTED AFTER SKIPPING SENTENCING FOR FATAL M62 CRASH

Humaira Batool has been arrested after failing to attend Leeds Crown Court for sentencing over a fatal Lamborghini crash on the M62 in West Yorkshire. She lost control of the car at speeds of up to 143mph in the early hours of 21 December 2022, killing her friend, Mohammed Shaan Hussain. Batool was due to be sentenced on Monday but did not appear. She was later found at hospital, arrested and brought before the court.

Batool initially told police she had been asleep in the passenger seat and that Hussain was driving. CCTV footage showed her swapping seats with him at traffic lights before she took the wheel herself. At trial, she blamed Hussain for the crash, claiming he had been fiddling with the Lamborghini's controls and caused it to suddenly accelerate. Jurors heard the car left the motorway, struck a barrier and overturned. Witnesses stopped to help, but flames stopped them reaching Hussain, who was trapped in the wreckage. Batool escaped but suffered serious injuries, including burns to around 10 per cent of her body and a shattered tibia.

Batool's barrister told the court she had suffered a flare-up of endometriosis and had gone to A&E instead of attending. Prosecutor Christopher Dunn said this was "clearly a ruse" to avoid sentencing, and that she had made several attempts to "thwart the prosecution". He challenged her account of the crash, telling her: "The only thing that was making you go faster that night was your right foot." Judge Ray Singh said Batool had been "avoiding being dealt with" before issuing a bench warrant for her arrest. The judge told her that her failure to attend was "unforgivable".