Man receives prison sentence after fatal street racing incident involving teenagers

Dhiya Al Maamoury, a 56-year-old man from Solihull, caused the deaths of two teenagers and inflicted severe injuries on two other individuals during a car gathering where he was “showing off” his extensively modified car. On 20 November 2022, in Oldbury, close to Birmingham, Mr. Al Maamoury’s Nissan Skyline veered out of control, striking pedestrians who had assembled on the pavement. The incident resulted in the fatalities of Liberty Charris, aged 16, and Ben Corfield, aged 19. Initially, Al Maamoury pleaded not guilty to charges of causing death and serious injury through dangerous driving. However, he altered his plea to guilty at the commencement of his trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court. Judge Michael Chambers KC subsequently sentenced him to 13 and a half years in prison. The incident, which occurred on the A457 Oldbury Road around 23:30 GMT, also left Ethan Kilburn, 21, and Ebonie Parkes, 20, with serious injuries. According to police, both individuals are still recuperating from their wounds. Al Maamoury’s two adult sons were passengers in the vehicle when the crash took place. West Midlands Police reported that at the time of the event, street racers were utilizing the stretch of road located between two roundabouts to conduct circuits, observed by hundreds of spectators. Damian Corfield, Ben’s father and a Dudley borough councillor, characterized street racing as a “scourge of the Earth”. He expressed that the imposed sentence was more severe than the families had anticipated, and he wished for it to serve as a deterrent to others participating in car meets. He stated: “We’ve all seen these type of car meets advertised out there,” adding, “They are a danger to all road users and they seem to have progressed over the last 12 or 18 months.” “Ben’s gone, we’ve lost our son, the light of our lives. Nothing will take that pain away. It’s the most excruciating, heart-wrenching pain, every second of the day.” Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC detailed that the vehicle, which had been imported from Japan, was modified to feature an exhaust that would emit flames and was equipped with a turbo engine. She further stated that Al Maamoury was operating the vehicle at speeds reaching 57mph on a road with a 40mph limit. The prosecutor clarified that the collision was not attributed to excessive speed, but rather to excessive acceleration. She explained: “As he booted it, the back end of his car lost traction with the road and he then began to head towards the central reservation. He tried to overcorrect and lost control.” Ben’s father, Damian Corfield, remarked that his son had been “struck down on the pavement where he should have been safe”. He added: “The son we had waited for, for so long, was gone forever.” Tracy Charris, Liberty’s mother, honored her daughter, describing her as “larger than life” and a “force to be reckoned with”. She stated: “I had always wanted a little girl and from the moment she was born.” During mitigation, Balbir Singh conveyed that Al Maamoury was “full of regret”. He mentioned that Al Maamoury and his family had been displaced from Iraq due to the Gulf War, characterizing him as a man who had “brought up his family and moved to this country where he has continued to work hard”. The judge addressed Al Maamoury, stating: “You deliberately carried out a highly dangerous manoeuvre in order to show off to the crowd by accelerating hard in a Nissan that you had deliberately modified in order to increase its power.” The judge imposed four concurrent prison sentences on Al Maamoury, which included 13 and a half years for causing death by dangerous driving and 32 months for causing serious injury. Additionally, he received a 14-year driving ban. Det Sgt Paul Hughes, from the serious collision investigation unit, commented: “Ben and Liberty were pedestrians on a pavement and should have been afforded some protection but due to Al-Maamoury’s dangerous driving their families have got to live with their loss forever.” Supt Gareth Mason, Head of roads policing, stated: “Al-Maamoury was 54 years old which proves its no longer ‘boy racers’ who are driving dangerously and speeding on our roads.“This case illustrates how dangerous street racing events are, and we are committed to doing everything we can to tackle these illegal meet ups.” The police have requested that anyone possessing footage of street racing events or dangerous driving submit it to them. For further updates, follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content found on external websites. Information regarding their approach to external linking is available.