Cases

Speeding Driver Jailed for Killing Schoolboy Cyclist

A driver who knocked down and killed a 16-year-old cyclist while speeding through residential streets has been jailed.

Shopkeeper Sami Ula Jabber, 29, from Falkirk was sentenced to five years imprisonment after he admitted causing death by dangerous driving. 

The court heard that Jabbar was driving a Mercedes at around 80mph before he hit schoolboy, Harley Smith, who was cycling home. 

Eye-witness accounts and CCTV footage from 6 November 2020 provided evidence of Jabbar driving through streets in Laurieston, Falkirk at speeds well in excess of the 30mph limit, despite dark and foggy weather conditions at the time. 

One witness who saw the car shortly before the collision remarked to her husband that the driver was “going to kill someone”.   

On Polmont Road, Falkirk, just before 9pm, Jabbar’s vehicle struck Harley, a fifth-year year pupil at the local St Mungo’s High School.  The teenager, from Grangemouth, died at the scene. 

Returning to court for sentencing today, Jabbar was jailed for five years and disqualified from driving for 12 years six months. 

David Green, Scotland's Procurator Fiscal for Homicide and Major Crime said:  

“The reckless and dangerous driving of Sami Ula Jabbar has had the most devastating effect on many lives. 

“It robbed young Harley Smith of his promising future and left his loving family bereft.  Our thoughts are with them as they try to cope with their terrible loss. 

“The consequences of dangerous driving cannot be overstated, as this case demonstrates so tragically.  

“Our Road Traffic Investigation Unit is committed to prosecuting these crimes at the highest level.”