R v Fharharde Uddin

Facts

The applicant, now aged 29, had been in a relationship with Shani Challis for about a year. In the early hours of Sunday 19 August 2023, after a night out in Brighton, the two argued in Whitehawk Crescent over the applicant's phone; a voicemail left on a friend's phone captured the argument, a revving engine and a collision. An eyewitness saw the car pass at speed and saw Ms Challis go beneath both front and rear tyres. The applicant told bystanders and ambulance crews that she was drunk and had fallen off a grass verge, and tried to move her body into the car; he was arrested at the scene after a struggle. Ms Challis suffered life-threatening crush injuries, including damage to the liver, spleen and lung, a fractured spine, rib fractures and pelvic fractures, required removal of her spleen, 32 units of blood and 12 units of blood products, was placed on life support and remained in hospital three months. Charged with attempted murder, the applicant made over 1,300 calls and sent some 4,400 messages from prison over about six months to secure her support for his false account, and her account to the police changed accordingly; she was herself arrested. He pleaded guilty on 6 December 2024 to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and to perverting the course of justice, and was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court to 9 years in total. The single judge refused leave to appeal against sentence.