Terrifying ‘trophy’ videos show men racing Audis and motorbikes before horror crash which killed one of them

Terrifying 'trophy videos' show men racing moments before a horror crash that killed one of them and left another badly hurt. Mohammad Zubair Chaudhry, Osama Saeed, Asgar Taj and Asad Rashid arranged to meet and race on the A34 near Handforth Dean retail park on September 15, 2020. Shortly after 10pm, a lorry driver's dashcam captured the reckless drivers minutes before the horror smash which claimed Mr Rashid's life.

The other three men fled the UK in October while Saeed and Taj were standing trial at Minshull Street Crown Court. Chaudhry had already pleaded guilty. They were all sentenced in their absence on Friday (December 15).

Footage released by police shows the vehicles pulling away from a set of traffic lights, which the men used as a starting point for their race. The vehicles are travelling so fast they disappear from sight within seconds. Chaudry was driving an Audi R8 and Saeed was in an Audi R3.

Taj and Rashid were riding Suzuki motorbikes. Another clip shows the aftermath of the collision at a roundabout. Chaudhry's Audi R8 hit first, tearing off the underside of the engine after flying through the roundabout and ending up 135m down the A34.

The two motorbikes and the Audi RS3 then hit the roundabout at about the same time. Taj and Rashid were thrown from their bikes.

Taj sustained a number of serious injuries. Rashid was hit by the RS3 as it struck the central reservation, becoming trapped.

He died at the scene. One witness said she thought she 'had got in the way of Top Gear filming' after hearing the 'roar' of the engines. Another said she had 'never seen anything like' the speed they were driving.

Another witness stopped to help at the scene and spoke to Taj, describing how he unlocked his phone and appeared to delete a number of files and the Instagram app. Prosecuting, Stephen McNally said there was an 'indication he was deleting evidence that they had been racing their vehicles that same night or on other occasions'.

A police investigation found on the night of the collision Taj, Saeed and Rashid had all conversed with Chaudhury to meet up and race. They also found that Chaudhury had an 'astonishing' array of 'trophy videos' on his phone showing him and friends driving at high speeds on roads across the country.

One video showed him driving at 139mph in a 40mph zone on the A34 Kingsway Grange, near to his home address, a built-up area with a school and lots of residential houses. Another showed him driving at 192mph on a motorway. Chaudhry, 31 of Kingsway, Cheadle[3], was sentenced to 10-years and seven months in prison, Saeed, 32, of St Pauls Road, Manningham, Bradford was jailed for 12 years and Taj, 35, of Heather Grove, Bradford, was also sentenced to 12 years behind bars, which will be served upon their return to the UK.

Sentencing, Judge Macadam said he held all three men 'equally culpable' for Mr Rashid's death and that the trio were 'not prepared to face the consequences of their actions'.

References

1. ^ The grinning dealer who played a 'leading role' in supply of Ketamine and Cannabis to the North West (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
2. ^ 'It's unbelievable': Alex Batty's gran says hearing his voice for first time in six years was 'like a dream' (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
3. ^ Cheadle (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)