Subhanu Mittal takes his dad’s cars out for ‘potentially disastrous’ hooning spree
A privileged young Berwick man was “rebelling” against his parents when he took his dad’s flash sports cars on wild 200km/h hooning on the Monash Freeway.
South East
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A Berwick university student who is a director of his parents’ company took his father’s expensive sports cars on wild joy rides, committing more than a dozen “potentially disastrous” acts of hooning.
Subhanu Mittal, 20, brought his mum and dad to Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to four counts of driving while suspended, five of reckless conduct endangering life, four of losing traction, and two of driving a prohibited vehicle as a probationary driver.
Mittal was aged 18 and 19 when over a period of about four months in early 2023 he took part in several “high risk activities” with his co-accused twin brother Sushant Mittal, such as doughnuts, fishtail manoeuvres, drag racing at more than 200km/h on the Monash Freeway, and swapping seats at speed on multiple occasions while his vehicle was temporarily driverless on cruise control.
In one instance he abandoned control of his car for 17 seconds on the freeway going at 94km/h; in another, he encouraged a younger person to perform the seat-swapping feat, with the younger man saying: “That was scary as s--t … I don’t like doing that f--king risky s--t”.
A Snapchat video of Mittal’s which captured one of his trips was captioned: “No licence, no worries.”
The vehicles Mittal drove, a black BMW and a red Mercedes Benz, were in the name of a family company no longer in operation – but of which Mittal is a director alongside his parents – and had a power to weight ratio forbidding their use by a P-plater.
Mittal took them without his parents’ knowledge, the court heard.
Police eventually seized Mittal’s phone, which contained videos of the offending.
The court heard in Mittal’s defence that the BMW had “intelligent technologies” like a reactive cruise control, that Mittal had a “nine out of 10 pain” chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and that he missed so many VCE classes that he got an “abysmal” ATAR and had to settle for an RMIT course rather than a Melbourne University one.
It was said Mittal lived in the shadow of his successful father, the owner of an IGA and other businesses, and that he was “rebelling” against his parents after falling in with a bad crowd.
Mittal has worked at 7/11, Woolworths, and is now a manager at a family business.
“It’s a miracle that there was no crash or collision,” magistrate Julian Ayres said, saying Mittal’s actions had “potentially disastrous consequences”.
“You don’t want to peak at 18,” he told him.
“It’s all downhill after that.”
Despite the “next-level recklessness” of especially the seat swapping, Mr Ayres indicated that he would probably sentence Mittal to a two-year community correction order involving a good behaviour bond, a fine, and a licence suspension, opting against any community work lest Mittal associate with unsavoury types with a need for someone of his skill behind the wheel.
He would, however, receive a conviction, Mr Ayres said.
The court heard police would apply for a forfeiture of the BMW, but defence would oppose the application in part because Mittal’s father had a “high equitable interest” in his vehicles.
Mittal will be assessed for the community correction order and face sentencing next week.
