Ali Elskaf: Cecil Hills car salesman appeals reckless driving sentence

A car salesman who posted videos to Instagram of his reckless speeding — at times driving up to 100km/h over the speed limit on a road closed due to bushfires — has had his sentenced reduced on appeal.

Car salesman Ali Elskaf.

A car salesman who posted videos of his reckless speeding on social media and put the lives of emergency workers in danger as he hooned along a road closed during the 2020 bushfires has successfully cut down his jail sentence.

Ali Elskaf, of Cecil Hills, was convicted in April 2022 at Hornsby Local Court of four counts of reckless driving. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Elskaf was sentenced to a two-year jail sentence, to be served in the community by way of an intensive corrections order.

He was also disqualified from holding a driver’s licence for three years and ordered to complete 800 hours of community service work.

At the time, the court heard a trove of Instagram evidence helped police convict the car salesman who posted evidence of himself speeding up to 100km/h over the speed limit in a series of luxury cars.

Car salesman Ali Elskaf.

Elskaf’s first speeding offence occurred on January 4, 2020, when he was caught driving 75 km/h over the limit in a white Mercedes Benz at Beverly Hills.

The very next day, Elskaf was once again caught hooning 89 km/h over the speed limit on the M5 Motorway at Moorebank — at a time when the M5 was closed due to the bushfires.

Ali Elskaf appealed the severity of his sentence at Downing District Court.

Two months later, Elskaf was hit with two fresh reckless driving offences.

On the night of March 11, Elskaf hooned along the M5 motorway at Milperra in a grey Audi SQ5.

A week later, on March 18, Elskaf drove 211 km/h in a 100 km/h zone in a silver Mercedes Benz.

At the Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday, Judge Andrew Scotting ruled Elskaf’s previous sentence was too harsh because it exceeded the maximum penalty for his offences.

But Judge Scotting told the court there was no excuse for Elskaf’s actions, particularly as he “sought notoriety” by posting evidence of his offences on social media.

“(Elskaf) deliberately drove at a speed and in a manner dangerous to the public for the purpose of filming and publishing his actions on social media,” he said.

“(He) intended to create notoriety for himself, to encourage others to copy his actions and to publicly express his contempt for the authority of the police.”

On appeal, Elskaf’s intensive corrections order was reduced to 15 months and was ordered to complete 150 hours of community service work.

Elskaf’s licence remains disqualified for three years.