by Cam Lucadou-Wells
An “entitled” and “privileged” serial hoon from Berwick is arguing against a jail term after pleading guilty to a spree of dangerous social-media stunts on public roads.
Sushant Mittal, 20, stands accused of reckless conduct endangering life for many of the 12 alleged driving incidents recorded on mobile phones, including his own while driving.
The P-plater admitted to multiple high speed acts up to 255km/h, street racing, rapid swerving between heavy traffic and seat-swapping with a passenger while driving on Monash Freeway.
The incidents took place in Hallam, Clyde North, Berwick, Dandenong North, Eumemmerring, Mulgrave, Blackburn North, Glen Waverley, Parkville, Mt Waverley, Box Hill North, Wheelers Hill and Melbourne in 2022 and 2023.
Many were committed in his family business’s high-powered sports Mercedes – despite it being a prohibited vehicle for probationary drivers due to its high power-weight ratio.
The P-plate driver was also charged with driving a vehicle that was prohibited for probationary drivers due to its high power-weight ratio.
Its speed limiter of 250 km/h had been over-ridden and its six-cylinder engine re-mapped to a V8, prosecutor JJ Jassar told Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 16 October.
Jassar argued for a jail term and community corrections order (CCO) noting the manner of driving, speeds and the posting on social media for “likes” and “self-aggrandisement”.
Much of Mittal’s “experience” was from playing video games at home, Jassar told the court.
Defence lawyer Chris Farrington said there was scope for a long, punitive CCO only, citing his client’s youth, zero priors and vulnerability in custody.
Magistrate Malcolm Thomas said it was “more likely than not” that he’d sentence Mittal to a term in custody – despite his own concerns at the “privileged” ex-private school student’s vulnerability.
“He’d find it very very hard, whether it’s adult prison or youth training.
“If he goes in that environment, he will be in a place with people with significant disadvantage.
“He won’t fit in.”
Mittal’s antics weren’t a momentary lapse of attention nor a “one-off”, Thomas said.
Drivers “not driving nearly as badly” as him had killed people on the road and gone to jail for years, Thomas said. He’d put multiple people at an “appreciable risk of death”.
He pointed to a video posted on Mittal’s Tic Toc account @sushionfire – estimating 40 vehicles put at risk as Mittal reached speeds of up to 184 km/h while cutting through mid-afternoon traffic on Monash Freeway, Mt Waverley.
It depicted Mittal rapidly overtaking a truck, narrowly missing a car ahead in the next lane and then cutting across two further lanes near the front-end of another vehicle.
“It’s like a game, but it’s not a game – you don’t get to re-spawn,” Thomas said.
“People die.”
It would have just taken Mittal to “clip” an innocent driver merging at the wrong time for potential fatalities and maiming.
An aggravating feature was Mittal’s “showing off” as “some big hero” on social media posts. It was an emerging culture that needed to be stamped out, Thomas said.
Thomas said it was “utterly extraordinary” that Mittal continued to have access to the Mercedes even after a visit from police for a 187km/h speeding incident on Eastlink in late 2022.
A good parent would have taken the keys away from the powerful vehicle, he said.
Defence lawyer Farrington said the father had expressed his “disgust” after the visit, eliciting a promise from Mittal that it wouldn’t happen again.
The offending had been a “disgusting“ period for his “feeble” and “immature” client, who’d been seeking “likes” on social media and approval from friends.
He’d been since ostracised from his social circle after falsely nominating seven associates and relatives as potential drivers during the incidents,
“One thing that my client can be thankful for is that throughout this idiocy no one has been harmed,“ Farrington said.
Magistrate Thomas said Mittal had been “given everything on a platter”, felt “entitled” and had not felt consequences until now.
The Indian-born accused had dropped out of Haileybury College during exams.
His father then gifted him part-time work and a share in his IGA supermarket.
The Mercedes had been previously impounded by police for one month. After Mittal’s parents paid for its release, the offending then got “worse”, Jassar said.
The prosecution will apply for the car’s forfeiture as “tainted property”.
In March, Mittal had rejected a magistrates’ sentence indication which included a jail term, and indicated he’d fight the charges.
He eventually pleaded guilty at the start of a contest mention hearing on 7 October, with a portion of the 110 original charges being withdrawn.
Mittal had “absolutely no prospect of success” in beating the charges, Thomas said.
In July, Mittal’s twin brother and co-offender Subhanu was convicted of 15 similar charges.
He was fined $4000, disqualified from driving for two years and put on a two-year community corrections order.
Mittal was bailed to next appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 19 November.
