A school formal car driver has been been handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence after he was found guilty of dangerous driving for a burnout and subsequent crash into a café strip.
Wisam El Haouli, 45, was driving two teenagers to their school formal in November last year when he crashed his heavily modified Torana into a dining area at Moffat Beach.
A 52-year-old man and a 49-year-old woman who had been dining at Moffat Beach Brewing Co were injured in the crash.
The outdoor dining area of the restaurant was full at the time of the accident.
Video and dash cam footage of the car captured moments before the incident showed El Haouli performing the burnout on Seaview Terrace in front of high school formal students before the vehicle crashed into concrete bollards.
Over a month ago, the court heard El Haouli claim his car accelerator had gotten stuck causing him to lose control of the vehicle.
When handing down her sentence in the Caloundra magistrates court, Catherine Benson said she had considered many factors in her ruling including video and dash cam footage.
"It was clear from the evidence that the defendant used the vehicle as a drag racing car and it was incumbent upon him to have his modifications inspected," she said.
"I have found you guilty of not just the manner of your driving at the time but creating and then driving an objectively dangerous vehicle and carrying passengers including children in that vehicle.
"Those issues in my view make your matter all the more serious.
"Your dangerous operation of the vehicle did result in injury to people and damage to property."
Magistrate Benson said there were many reasons why El Haouli would not get a discounted penalty.
"It was a particularly dangerous scene that you were in at the time surrounded by families and children, a large number of people enjoying themselves, celebrating.
"The manner in which you built this vehicle over many years and your continued arrogant approach to how you did that — and feeling proud of the fact that you didn't ask for assistance from anybody and didn't allow anybody else to work on it — you consider yourself to be better than a qualified mechanic.
"You are very clearly not.
"This issue I must consider when imposing a sentence for any matter is the issue of general deterrence and that means a sentence that sends a very strong message to other people in the community about this sort of behaviour."
El Haouli's sentence was wholly suspended and his licence was disqualified for 12 months.
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