An east London man is facing imprisonment for purposely driving his car into a crowd of people as they celebrated Eid in the Mile End area of Tower Hamlets.
Akikul Islam, 25, left three men with serious injuries after he drove his white Range Rover into a crowd of people during the Eid-al-Fitr event on Thursday 7 July 2016.
The Old Bailey was told that a fight had broken out between two groups of men which involved glass bottles and baseball bats being used as weapons.
During the brawl a group of men surrounded Islam’s car and instead of driving forward to avoid them he deliberately reversed the 4×4.
One of the victims, a 20-year-old, was left fighting for his life and is currently receiving continuous medical care due to the sustained injuries.
On Monday, Islam was found guilty of three counts of GBH and will be sentenced on Friday 30 June.
Numerous people were arrested as part of the investigation and were released on bail.
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Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Chris Soole of Tower Hamlets police said: “Islam’s actions on that morning are utterly shocking. He had ample opportunity to leave the scene but chose to remain and then deliberately drove his car, not just once, but multiple times, at people at the scene.
“Our enquiries into the other events that morning are ongoing and we will seek to arrest all those who contributed to this shocking series of events.”
