Man ends up in the back of BMW convertible after he’s hit by speeding drug dealer
A young man was thrown into the air and landed in the backseat of a BMW convertible after being struck by a speeding drug dealer.
David Skinner, 18, survived, but suffered several injuries when he was struck by Ahmed Lal, 24 in Wellington, Shropshire.
Lal, who was under the influence of cannabis at the time, had been ‘showing off’ to friends by racing his BMW in and around the town on June 18, 2023.
Video footage, released by police, shows the car hurtlingly along Watling Street – which has a speed limit of 30mph – just before it crashes into Mr Skinner who is crossing the road at a crossing.
Experts estimated Lal was doing at least 67mph, and may have been going as fast as 71.5mph.
The footage cuts at the impact and continues after he’s landed in the backseat of the vehicle.
A passenger can then be seen jumping out of the car while it’s still moving and fleeing the scene.
Mr Skinner was left with a fractured pelvic bone and hip, broken bones in his foot and significant bruising to his chest and left eye.
When officers arrived at the scene Lal was tested for drugs,and the results came back positive for cannabis.
He was also driving on a provisional licence and had not been displaying L plates.
Lal was arrested at the side of the road and taken into custody.
Once he was released pending further enquiries it was found he had given false details and had fled to Stoke-On-Trent to evade arrest.
Lal was eventually located by police and charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving, using a motor vehicle without insurance, driving a motor vehicle otherwise in accordance with a licence and driving under the influence of drugs.
He pleaded guilty to those charges, as well as two charges of possession with intent to supply class A drugs after he was caught selling heroin and crack cocaine.
Lal, of Wellington, was jailed for five years and eight months at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Tuesday.
Sentencing, recorder Adrian Jack said: ‘You drove at a wholly excessive speed for an extended period of time.
‘Your victim was thrown into the air and landed in the back of your car.
‘You committed those offences on bail and then perverted the course of justice.’
The court was told Mr Skinner was on his way to a shop at around 3.30pm to ‘pick up some peas for his tea’.
Prosecutor William Dudley said: ‘The defendant was racing around town beforehand. His speed was far too fast.’
In a victim impact statement, Mr Skinner said he has had difficulty sleeping since the crash and ‘feels dead inside’.
He also expressed worries over finding employment due to his injuries.
Philip Beardwell, defending, told the court that ‘immature’ Lal had turned to abusing class A drugs after the death of his brother in 2020 and had run up a debt to his dealer.
He added: ‘He was told if he couldn’t pay the debt he would have to deal drugs.”
A spokesman from West Mercia Police’s Operational Policing Unit, said: ‘Lal’s actions that were not only irresponsible that left someone with serious injuries, but also delayed us getting justice after he gave false details to try and avoid facing the consequences of his actions.
‘I hope the sentence given to Lal by the judge will be able to bring some sort of closure to his victim, who has already suffered enough.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.