Wanted: Man who crashed into diplomat later charged with driving while suspended

Aaed Abu Laila was sentenced last month for operating a vehicle carelessly causing injury. Photo / Sam Hurley

An Auckland man who was high on drugs when he crashed into and seriously injured a foreign diplomat is wanted by the police after allegedly being caught behind the wheel again, just weeks after being banned from driving.

Aaed Abu Laila, 27, failed to appear in the Auckland District Court this morning after being charged with driving while disqualified and allegedly providing police with false or misleading information after being stopped by an officer.

The court issued a warrant for his arrest.

Last month, Laila was suspended from driving after being sentenced for operating a vehicle carelessly which seriously injured Juan Carlos Cadena Silva, the former consul general at the Colombian Consulate in Auckland.

The Tamaki Drive rush hour crash last January saw the foreign diplomat thrown from his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He required surgery at Auckland City Hospital and broke his right ankle, left wrist and suffered fractures to his pelvis.

Juan Carlos Cadena Silva, the former Consul General at the Colombian Consulate in Auckland, was seriously injured in the crash. Photo / Supplied

Laila was further charged with driving after using a controlled drug when his blood reading showed traces of methamphetamine and cannabis.

Laila's excuse for the Tamaki Drive crash was that he believed his vehicle was being tampered with and was in pursuit of the culprits, the court heard during sentencing.

Judge Eddie Paul convicted Laila and sentenced him to 120 hours' community work, nine months' supervision, disqualified him from driving for nine months and ordered Laila to pay Cadena Silva $1000 in emotional harm reparation.

As Laila left the court he unleashed a verbal attack towards his lawyer and the judge, seemingly agitated at a conviction being entered against his name.

Laila also has a dangerous driving conviction from 2008.

Cadena Silva, who spoke to the Herald from his hospital bed before ending his diplomatic post and returning to Colombia, endured 20 physiotherapy sessions and was told last June he may not fully recover from his injuries.

NZME ​group entertainment director Dean Buchanan was also injured in the crash near the Kelly Tarlton's aquarium.

Cadena Silva's Harley-Davidson lying on Tamaki Drive after the crash. Photo / Supplied