Star of jail film crashes car in knife row chase

An actor who appeared in acclaimed prison film Starred Up crashed his Mercedes into a wall while chasing two men who had stabbed him, a court heard.

Former inmate Basil Abdul-Latif, 31, pursued the men after being slashed across the arm during a confrontation with them in Tooting. He was flouting a driving ban, Kingston crown court heard, following a 2010 conviction for aggravated vehicle taking.

He starred as Mubarak in 2013 film Starred Up alongside Jack O’Connell, Rupert Friend and Ben Mendelsohn. It tells the story of a 19-year-old who struggles to survive in prison.

Abdul-Latif met the screenwriter, Jonathan Asser, as a prisoner at HMP Wandsworth. He has said that being cast in the film helped to turn his life around.

At court on Friday, Recorder John Kingston sentenced Abdul-Latif to 120 hours of community service for the crash on February 1, telling him: “You were seriously injured, which is likely to have impaired your ability to drive, but it was near a school and pedestrians were in danger of serious injury or being killed.

"You drove a short distance in pursuit of those that had stabbed you and crashed your car and were carrying a passenger when you crashed.”

The court heard Abdul-Latif was first banned from driving in 2010 and ordered to take an extended test when he flouted the ban 18 months later.

He passed an ordinary test in 2015 and even landed a job with the Highways Agency. He said he did not realise he was still banned from driving.

Abdul-Latif, of Clapham, pleaded guilty to careless driving and driving while disqualified. He was ordered to pay £285 in court costs and fees.