Student Doctor Accused of Speeding in McLaren Appears in Court

A 21-year-old student doctor has pleaded not guilty to speeding down a WA highway at more than 250 kilometres per hour in a luxury car.

Auday Faris Dawood Alaswad faced Bunbury Magistrates Court today charged with one count of reckless driving speed of 155 km/h or more, and one count of failing to give information identifying the person in charge of a vehicle.

Police allege the orange McLaren MA3 coupe was caught doing 149km/h above the 110km/h speed limit along Forrest Highway near Noble Street in Binningup, about 140km south of Perth, on August 12.

Mr Alaswad pleaded not guilty to the two charges and requested his matter be moved to Perth, where he and his lawyer were based.

“Is it possible to change to the city as its two hours to get in for me and my lawyer,” he asked Magistrate Melissa McEwen.

“This is the jurisdiction the offences were allegedly committed, so that’s where the trial is now heard. Your lawyer hasn’t made any application [for that],” Ms McEwen said.

The court heard his lawyer, referred only to as Mr Andrews, told the court via email that Mr Alaswad had four defence witnesses to support his case and the trial would take at least a day.

When searching for a date for the two-day trial, Mr Alaswad said he was keen to have the matter over quickly.

“Is it possible to [make the date] earlier because I am in medical school and I need to be able to get my police clearance,” he said.

The matter will return to court for trial on February 5.

Outside court, Mr Alaswad said “God loves you” when asked about the incident by reporters.

The vehicle was impounded for 28 days and returned to Mr Alaswad this week.

Earlier this week, WA Police Commander Mike Peters said the alleged speeds reached were “mind blowing”.

“At 259km/h, there is no margin for error. A momentary lapse in concentration, a vehicle entering the roadway, or an unexpected hazard would have catastrophic consequences,” he said.