A reckless driver, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for causing a horrific crash that killed a couple and a child, has lost an appeal against the jail terms.
The 29-year-old Bahraini man was found guilty in two separate trials, sentenced to six years in prison in one, and three years in the other.
He filed an appeal against both the rulings, but the High Criminal Appeals Court judges yesterday upheld the convictions and sentences.
In the first trial, the Lower Criminal Court’s seventh circuit (traffic court) in July sentenced the motorist to six years in prison for his role in the deaths of Ahmed Al Orrayedh, aged 40, Fatima Al Qaidoom, 36, and their seven-year-old son Abdulaziz.
He was convicted on all eight charges, which included vehicular manslaughter and causing grievous physical harm to the late couple’s two surviving children, 12-year-old Aya and nine-year-old Yousif.
He was also convicted of drunk driving, property damage, criminal negligence and posing a threat to others’ lives and property.
Furthermore, the court found him guilty of not following traffic rules and instructions, improperly attempting to overtake another vehicle, and speeding – driving 30 per cent over the speed limit of the road the accident took place on.
The traffic court judge ruled to suspend the appellant’s driver’s licence for a year after he completed his sentence, and ordered that the vehicle be confiscated.
In the second trial, he was found guilty of possessing hashish for personal use, and was sentenced to three years in prison and fined BD3,000 by the Lower Criminal Court’s first circuit.
The GDN earlier reported on the arguments that the appellant’s lawyer, Ahmed Touq, used to defend him before the court.
The attorney, who received severe criticism and backlash for his vigorous defence of his client, alleged that the accusations in both trials overlapped, and claimed that he was being punished twice for the same crime.
The accident took place in the early hours of May 30, in Saar, when the accused’s vehicle collided head-on with a car in the opposite lane, severely wounding the Bahraini family of five.
The parents were rushed to hospital but died on the same day due to their critical injuries, and while their youngest son Abdulaziz died of his injuries two weeks later, on June 13.
The collision not only injured, but also orphaned, the couple’s other children, Aya and Yousif who have since been discharged from hospital with serious injuries and are now living with their uncle and grandmother in their mother’s family home in Segaiya.
The horrific crash spurred a wider discussion in Bahrain about reckless driving, with the GDN earlier reporting that legislators were working on new laws to impose harsher penalties on negligent motorists.
The Bahrain Bar Society issued a statement condemning ‘vicious attacks’ against the suspect’s attorney, with members of the public finding his defence of his client ‘ridiculous’ and absurd.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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