THE brother of a Stanmore man sentenced to 12 years for manslaughter has offered his 'heartfelt and sincerest condolences' to the victim's family.
Jason Kwaik, who runs the Sahara Lounge in Stanmore Hill, spoke exclusively to the Observer about the remorse he, his brother and the family have felt since the on-road collision killed a teenager and left another needing around the clock treatment.
Abid Kwaik, 38, was found guilty of shunting 19-year-old Shenol Ahmet's vehicle off the road at Southwark Crown Court last month, in which Mr Ahmet was killed, and Corey Holliday was left needing constant care and Luke Hall was injured.
Speaking about the whole saga his younger brother Jason Kwaik, 37, said: "Our whole family wants to offer our heartfelt and sincerest condolences to the family of Mr Ahmet, and we are truly sorry for the injuries sustained to Mr Holliday and Mr Hall and just hope and wish them full recoveries.
"If we could all go back in time we would because this has been a nightmare.
"Abid would never deliberately hurt anyone, he is not an aggressive person and this was just an unintentional and unforeseen accident that has had terribly tragic consequences.
"Since the incident Abid has been seeing a psychiatrist and has been on anti-depressants because he never meant for anyone to get hurt that day. He is absolutely devastated that this happened."
Abid Kwaik, of Anmersh Grove, Stanmore, got in his car in the early hours of November 8, 2009, to follow the trio because he blamed them for throwing eggs at the Sahara Lounge, where he had been working.
Jason Kwaik added: "We do not condone violence in any way and perhaps he was a bit frustrated that the restaurant had been targeted, because there had been many other instances of egg throwing before, and had tried to take down the number plates as the police had suggested to us.
"I think if anyone had known this would happen he would never have gone.
"We have had eggs thrown at us since and we just want to say to anybody thinking its just a bit of a joke that the consequences in the past have been so devastating that we just want it to stop. Something needs to be learnt from this."
Mr Kwaik's father Mohammed Kwaik, 68, recently flew in to England from his home in America and added: "We are all so sorry for the families involved that this has happened. We know that Abid could have died that day and can only imagine how devastating it has been for these families.
"I know my son would never want to cause anyone any harm and the whole thing is all very sad."
Kwaik was convicted of manslaughter and two counts of unlawful wounding, by a jury at Southwark Crown Court.
He was jailed for 12 years for manslaughter and banned from driving for ten years.
