Yusef Al Huswana, 21, pleads guilty to dangerous, unregistered, drug driving

A learner driver was speeding and had cannabis in his system when he ran a red light and crashed into another car, a court has heard.

Yusef Al Huswana pleaded guilty to nine charges relating to driving offences and failing to attend court.

A learner driver was speeding in an unregistered car with no plates and had cannabis in his system when he ran a red light and crashed into another car, a court has heard.

Yusef Al Huswana, 21, appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to nine charges including driving in a dangerous manner, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving with more than the prescribed amount of cannabis in his system and failing to appear at court.

The court heard that on July 16, 2022, Al Huswana was driving south along Melbourne Rd in North Geelong and was seen speeding by a witness about 6am.

Al Huswana’s car had no registration plates and was hurtling along the middle lane of the highway.

The court was told Al Huswana ran a red light and hit the back of a Ford Territory.

The Territory had been travelling north on Melbourne Rd and turned on a green arrow into Victoria St.

A witness estimated that Al Huswana had been travelling at 100km/h when the crash happened, the court was told.

Al Huswana and the driver of the Ford Territory were taken to Geelong hospital for observation and remained overnight.

Both escaped without serious injury.

Al Huswana told police he had ran the red light because he believed it to be orange, the court heard.

He also told police his car had been unregistered since December 2020, and that he’d been using cannabis at 3am the night before the crash and he “shouldn’t have been driving”.

A blood sample taken from Al Huswana confirmed the presence of cannabis in his system.

Al Huswana was also charged with failing to appear at court, and in August a warrant had been released for his arrest.

Al Huswana’s lawyer, Tim Hancock, told the court that his client accepted that things “could have been very different”.

“He does acknowledge it was incredibly stupid … it really is a pin-up for that development in males brains in that particular age,” Mr Hancock said.

Mr Hancock said that Al Huswana had stopped using cannabis and been clean for “seven or eight months”.

“He’s back at home living with his father, which has been a bit more stable and supporting than things were at that particular time,” Mr Hancock said.

“He was really living with disregard, quite frankly … partying, using drugs, doing what he wanted, when he wanted.”

The court heard that Al Huswana’s car had been impounded and crushed.

Magistrate Peter Mellas said he hoped Al Huswana had learned from the experience, and said he was encouraged if Al Huswana did commit to working at his father’s farm and staying off drugs.

He told Al Huswana if the police had been able to measure the exact amount of cannabis in his system, Al Huswana might have faced even harsher charges.

Al Huswana was convicted and fined $2000 and had his licence cancelled for six months.

Originally published as Yusef Al Huswana, 21, pleads guilty to dangerous, unregistered, drug driving