Driver who mowed down passers-by after pub row found guilty of GBH
Choudry Razaq, 26, was accused of attempting to murder the men, who were all seriously injured, in Hounslow.
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A banned driver who mowed down four passers-by after being hit with a bottle during a fight outside a pub has been cleared of attempting to murder them.
Choudry Razaq, 26, was accused of trying to kill the friends by using a silver Chevrolet as a weapon in Kingsley Road, Hounslow, west London, on September 25 last year.
Old Bailey jurors instead found him guilty of four lesser charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.
The victims survived but were seriously hurt, with two suffering life-threatening injuries, the court was told.
Prosecutor Rekha Kodikara told jurors that Razaq “effectively left them for dead” at the scene.
It’s fair to say it’s a scene of utter devastation
The trial was told that earlier in the evening, the defendant and two passengers had travelled in a car to the White Bear pub in Hounslow.
They were seen on CCTV, milling around and playing pool, before congregating outside the pub at around 2.20am.
When two more men arrived, the defendant appeared to become agitated and punched one of them, the court heard.
One man picked up a bottle and smashed it on the ground and then on a lamppost, the hearing was told.
Gabriel Sjnevicius, Hanad Duhaut, Harris Koneswaran and Abdi Moallim had “stumbled across” the altercation in Kingsley Road.
The court was told they had met for a night out and had been walking past the White Bear on their way to watch a boxing match on television.
Rather than get involved in a fight, they carried on walking, unaware their lives were “about to change dramatically”, the prosecution told the jury.
Razaq returned to the Chevrolet and got behind the wheel “in a rage”, having suffered a head injury from being “bottled”, the court heard.
The prosecutor said the footage showed the victims’ bodies lying “scattered across two driveways” as a result of the collision.
The car was travelling at around 33mph at the time of the collision at 2.40am, with at least two of the pedestrians landing on the windscreen, the court was told.
Jurors were shown police body-worn video footage of the victims lying among the debris of a collapsed wall as officers rushed to their aid.
Ms Kodikara told jurors: “It’s fair to say it’s a scene of utter devastation.”
Mr Sjnevicius had been flung on to the car’s roof and landed on the brick wall, suffering multiple skull fractures.
Mr Duhaut was lying in a foetal position near another wall, having suffered a significant head injury, and Mr Koneswaran was lying spreadeagled on his back.
Mr Moallim was the least injured and the only one who was conscious, the jury was told.
After the crash, Razaq was treated in hospital, put his clothes in the wash and booked a flight to Pakistan, jurors were told.
He was arrested at Heathrow Airport as he allegedly attempted to flee the country, and declined to answer questions in a police interview.
The defendant, from Feltham in west London, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on three of the men and attempted actual bodily harm to a fourth but denied intent.
He also admitted dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.