A dangerous driver ‘inhaling gas from a balloon’ while behind the wheel left a man with serious injuries in a horror smash.
Yamin Mahmad Iqbal Indawala, crashed his Volkswagen Golf into parked parked cars – including an Audi – as he dropped off two pals.
The 27-year-old, Manchester Crown Court heard, picked up two pals from Salford Quays.
The passengers said he took sharp turns and was accelerating at high speeds while playing loud music.
“The defendant was told that his two passengers wanted to get an Uber [back home] because they felt unsafe in the vehicle, but the defendant said he would return them to Salford Quays,” Robert Smith, prosecuting, said.
“The defendant was inhaling gas from a balloon while driving.”
The court earlier heard the incident happened on the evening of April 24, 2023.
At around 11.40pm, a man was collecting belongings from his Audi, which was parked on Worsley Road.
Indawala, from Bolton, approached, before losing control of his car. He hit parked cars and the Audi, leaving the victim with serious injuries.
The man ‘found his left foot turned the wrong way’, the court heard. He was left with multiple injuries, including fractures.
The victim was discharged from hospital more than a month after the smash.
Mr Smith told the court Indawala told paramedics at the scene he had been speeding at 50mph.
Empty gas canisters were found nearby.
Mitigating, Nigel Beeson said: “The injuries are significant and serious. My client has fully accepted, from the word go, that the only person at fault for this incident was him.”
The court heard the defendant was ‘suffering from PTSD’.
Judge Rachel Galloway handed Indawal a two-year sentence, suspended for two years after he earlier admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
“It was a deliberate decision by him to ignore the rules of the road,” she said.
“The speed was significantly above the speed limit, and his inhalation of the balloon must have been a distraction to him.
“The incident had a significant impact on [the victim’s] life as a whole. He has not been able to pay his bills or rent. He has lost two holidays.
“He has depleted savings, has lost about £10,000, and has had to fund therapy. All of these are clearly very significant.”
Indawala, of Auburn Street, Bolton, was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work; and told he must abide by the terms of an electronically-monitored curfew – from 7am to 7pm – for nine months.
He was also disqualified from driving for two-and-a-half years and ordered to pay costs £130 and a victim surcharge.
