Sharjeel Shahzad, 30, was branded ‘callous and cowardly’ when he was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for crashing into a family’s car and killing a two-year-old boy
Horrifying footage caught the moment a “cowardly” driver smashed a stolen Porsche into a family’s car and ran away, leaving a two-year-old boy dead.
Sharjeel Shahzad, 30, was thrown in prison for more than 15 years after the hit-and-run in Smethwick, West Midlands. Shahzad had been banned from driving at the time and was awaiting a court date for dangerous driving. Despite this, the 30-year-old jumped behind the wheel of a stolen Porsche Cayenne and smashed into the other car while he was veering onto the wrong side of the road just before 11pm on December 14.
Shocking footage showed the Porsche swerving down a road in the West Midlands in the evening. Wolverhampton Crown Court heard he had been driving at speeds of up to 50mph that night.
Shahzad was then seen overtaking a vehicle while approaching a blind bend before losing control of the car, which had false plates. The driver then moved to the opposite side of the road where he crashed into an unsuspecting Toyota Auris.
The Toyota was being driven by Baljeet Singh, who had been at a family member’s birthday party with his wife and pals. This collision left two-year-old Shehbaz Singh dead and his mum, Kushpreet Kaur, sustained severe brain injuries.
The two-year-old boy had been unrestrained in the backseats of the car and his mum has not yet been told her baby died. A fourth person, Amritpal Singh, was also in the Toyota that evening.
The sickening footage showed Shahzad jump out of his crashed stolen car before running away from the scene. Shahzad was due to be in court just nine days after the fatal crash, on December 23, for a 19-minute, 30-mile pursuit he had with police in a stolen Audi on June 10.
He had reached speeds of 150mph during the pursuit. The 30-year-old also tried to flee the scene during this incident but was caught by police. Shahzad had then been banned from driving for six months in October 2024 for driving without due care and attention, but this did not stop him from getting behind the wheel again.
He was sentenced to 15 years and four months behind bars for causing death by dangerous driving. Judge Jonathan Gosling told the court the impact of the fatal collision was “catastrophic”.
The judge said: “You destroyed the lives of Amritpal Singh and Kushpreet Kaur and devastated their family and friends. You killed that little boy.” He added: “You are not only a dangerous man, you are callous and cowardly.”
The judge slammed him for fleeing the scene and said: “His only interest was to disappear. He was arrested two days later and denied being in the Porsche at the time.
“He complained he was being compelled to drive this way by men he feared. No one compelled him to drive like that. He ran from the car knowing he must, at the very least, have caused very serious injury to those in the Toyota.”
Shahzad had previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in relation to the incident. He also admitted to driving without a licence or insurance and failing to stop after a crash.