Six years jail for driver who caused death of three men.

Arayeb Saqib was 17 at the time of the collision and was in no way experienced enough to drive such a high powered car

Published 15th Jul 2016

A man who caused the death of three others in a collision in South Manchester has been jailed.

Eughteen year old Arayeb Saqib of Wilbraham Road, Manchester has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He is also disqualified from driving for eight years.

Shortly before 3:15am on Wednesday 27 April 2016, police observed Arayeb Saqib driving a white Audi S5 at high speed on Wilbraham Road and began to follow the vehicle.

A short time later, the Audi collided with two parked cars and a street sign on Wilbraham Road, close to Whalley Range High School for girls.

Mohammad Hamza, 20, and Hamza Iqbal, 24, were travelling as passengers in the car at the time of the collision and were pronounced dead at the scene. Munib Afzal Karim, 21, and a fourth man, 19, were also in the car and taken to hospital to be treated for their injuries but Munib died the following day.

Further enquiries established that the high powered car had been hired for a wedding that took place the day before.

Saqib had not hired the car nor had he attended the wedding itself but he met up with the group some time afterwards and took the wheel.

Police Constable Paul Joynson of GMP's Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: "This was a tragic set of circumstances in which three young men lost their lives.

"Arayeb Saqib was 17 at the time of the collision and was in no way experienced enough to drive such a high powered car.

"Unfortunately, young people driving high powered rented vehicles which they aren't experienced enough to handle is a problem that we are facing with increasing frequency "Often these vehicles will have been rented for some sort of event by somebody who will let a younger person drive them without realising that they are not insured nor are they able to drive safely.

"Saqib's attempts to show off to his friends in a high powered car directly resulted in their death and he will have to live with that on his conscience for the rest of his life. "I hope this incident will serve as a reminder of the risk and potential consequences that come with driving dangerously."