An inexperienced driver who caused a horrific motorway crash that claimed the life of his passenger was spared a jail sentence today.
Shallaw Hameedi lost control of his Audi when it aquaplaned on the M8 then repeatedly hit safety barriers on the central reservation, crossing over into the opposing carriageway and crashing into an oncoming car.
His passenger Alexandru Dinca was so severely injured he died and two women in the other vehicle sustained serious injuries.
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The 28-year-old, of Scotstoun, had denied causing the death of the 44-year-old by dangerous driving on July 27, 2019.
After a trial a jury convicted him of the lesser offence of causing death by careless driving and deleted an allegation that he had driven at excessive speed above the 70 mph motorway speed limit.
Hameedi drove with one tyre below the legal tread limit and at an inappropriate speed for conditions on the motorway that day, when he hit water on the road near to Junction 5 at Shotts.
Emma Paterson and Lynette Winning, who were in another car, suffered serious injury.
A judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh: "The jury, by their verdict, accepted that your driving did not meet the standard of dangerous driving and was not in excess of the speed limit, although it was inappropriate for the prevailing road conditions."
Judge Norman McFadyen said: "There was no evidence of prolonged, inappropriate driving but at the time of the accident you were clearly not in a position to control your car."
The judge said it appeared to be "a case of poor judgement in difficult road conditions" which had "catastrophic consequences" for his passenger.
He told Hameedi: "If you had been convicted of the charge as it was brought against you, you would have been facing a significant sentence of imprisonment."
But he said in light of the verdict of the jury and taking account of Hameedi's personal circumstances and the impact of the "terrible accident" on him he could deal with it by an alternative to custody.
Hameedi was given a community payback order and told to carry out 260 hours of unpaid work. He will be subject to an offender supervision requirement for 18 months.
He was also banned from driving for three years and until he passes an extended driving test.
Defence counsel Wendy Culross said: "There was no evidence that the driving in question continued for any length of time. The accident happened very quickly and was over very quickly and the crucial cause of it was the aquaplane."
She said of Hameedi: "He has no previous convictions of any kind and no other driving offences on his record. He has not driven since the time of this accident because of the impact the accident has had on him."
The defence counsel said that Hameedi was also injured in the incident and was taken to hospital after losing consciousness. She said it had also taken a toll on his mental health and was prescribed antidepressants and medication for anxiety.
Mrs Culross said he will have to live with the consequences of the crash for the rest of his life and that was something he struggled with.
"He tells me he feels very sorry and bad for what happened and wishes it was him that lost his life rather than Mr Dinca," she said.
The defence counsel said that at the time of the fatal collision Hameedi was "a young and inexperienced driver".
She said that a criminal justice social work report prepared on him outlined "the difficult and traumatic background" the Iranian born Kurd had before moving to the UK.
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