BMW driver sentenced for causing head-on crash with lorry on Leeds Road, Bradford, as he raced an Audi

The crash involved a head-on collision with a lorry, destroying its £200,000 load, and injured three people, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Bilal Madni, 26, who was on the wrong side of the road in a BMW M5 racing a white Audi A7, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was sentenced to ten months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.

The court heard the driver of the Audi was never prosecuted because the police could not confirm his identity.

Madni, of Toller Drive, Heaton, Bradford, was racing the Audi at up to 70mph on Leeds Road, towards the city centre, when the HGV was coming the other way, prosecutor Robert Galley said.

Both cars went out of control when they either clipped each other or struck some "street furniture," Mr Galley said.

The damaged Audi after the Leeds Road crash

The BMW left the road and hit a parked Audi and a Vauxhall Corsa.

The Audi A7 was involved in "a heavy collision" with the lorry and a parked Citroen car was also damaged.

Mr Galley said up to five men climbed out of the crashed Audi and two others in it were injured.

The HGV driver's £30,000 cab was severely damaged and he sustained whiplash and other injuries. He had suffered flashbacks since the crash, in which he was doing under 30mph.

The aftermath of the smash on Leeds Road

Madni left the scene but returned with his father and confessed to the police that he was at the wheel of the BMW when the accident happened just after midnight on April 14 last year.

Mr Galley said that excessive speed and racing or competitive driving were aggravating factors in the case.

Madni's solicitor advocate, Mohammed Hussain, told the court: "He is a good young man. He really is."

The breakdown of Madni's marriage meant he was under severe stress at the time.

Debris in the road and the damaged lorry after the crash

"He went to the hospital and then back to the scene and told the police he was driving. The people in the Audi were very evasive," Mr Hussain said.

"It was a chance meeting with young men driving cars that were too powerful for them. He accepted that it was a moment of madness."

Madni, who was a qualified business administrator, had not driven since.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC said: "He has done everything he can to put things right and he is very, very sorry."

Madni was insightful and genuinely remorseful.

The accident scene last April

Judge Durham Hall told him: "You have brought shame and heartache to your parents and your community."

Madni was banned from driving for 12 months and must take an extended retest to get his licence back.

He was also ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and carry out work with the probation service.