Trial of businessman's son over driving under influence crash begins in January

CAIRO – 14 December 2021: Egypt’s prosecution has referred Karim el-Hawary, the son of renowned Egyptian businessman Mohamed el-Hawary, to the criminal court on Monday over charges of manslaughter while driving under the influence.

The first court session in Hawari’s trial is set to be held early in January.

Hawari will stand before the Giza Criminal Court over accusations of manslaughter associated with negligence, recklessness and drug use while driving his car in Sheikh Zayed City.

Per investigations, the Public Prosecution charged him with committing the felony of possessing the substance of cocaine drug with the intent to abuse, and that he mistakenly caused the death of four people, including three children, and that was as a result of his negligence, carelessness and lack of caution, and failure to adhere to the laws, by driving a car at a high speed under the influence of the use of the aforementioned narcotic and another intoxicant without taking into account the distance between him and the victims’ car.

Surveillance cameras in the accident area were retrieved and footage showing Hawary driving his car at a very high speed, and hitting another car from behind, toppling it in a deadly crash that cause the death of the passengers of the second car.

The Public Prosecution had attached to the referral order the evidence confirming that the accused committed the crimes attributed to him, which included the testimony of six eyewitnesses, of whom two saw the incident as concluded by the Public Prosecution’s investigations, as well as the forensic doctor who examined the sample taken from the accused, which tested positive to drug abuse; cocaine and ethyl alcohol.