Crash driver accused of A&E 'ruse' to avoid court

A woman who killed her friend when she crashed a rented Lamborghini on the M62 has been arrested at hospital after she failed to turn up for sentencing.

Humaira Batool, 26, was due to be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court for causing the death of 20-year-old Mohammed Shaan Hussain in 2022 but did not appear.

Her barrister said she had not come to court as she had gone to A&E due to a flare-up of endometriosis, however prosecutor Christopher Dunn said it was "clearly a ruse".

Judge Ray Singh issued a bench warrant for Batool, saying she was "avoiding being dealt with". The defendant was later arrested at hospital and taken to court where she was then remanded in custody to be sentenced on Tuesday.

When she arrived in court on crutches, Judge Singh told her that her failure to attend was "unforgivable".

He said: "It was fairly obvious you weren't going to attend, from email traffic seen over the weekend.

"For you to have deliberately, in my view, got to a position where you weren't going to attend this morning is unforgivable. The deceased's family are here."

Batool was driving at more than 140mph (230km/h) in wet conditions when she crashed the hired Urus model supercar on 21 December 2022 near Ripponden, West Yorkshire.

It struck a barrier and set alight, killing her friend Hussain.

She was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving following a trial in September.

While the judge was considering whether to give Batool bail overnight or remand her in custody, prosecutor Christopher Dunn said he had photographs from social media of the defendant, who has a beauty business, wearing a ballgown and high heels at a beauty event.

He said the pictures were taken in the weeks before her trial, during which she arrived at court on crutches.

Dunn said: "Our information is it was at a time just before the trial. Then she comes to the trial using crutches and struggling to get into the dock, when she was wearing high heels to go to a beauty event."

Judge Singh told Batool he was remanding her as he believed there was a "significant risk" she would not attend court again if bailed.

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