P-plater charged with additional eight offences following Newcastle horror crash

The 18-year-old driver who allegedly drove into a group of Newcastle Knights supporters, injuring 10 of them, has been charged with an additional eight offences.

Indika Bambrick Samarasinghe was on Tuesday charged with an additional six counts of causing grievous bodily harm by misconduct, one count of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, and one count of negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.

He has now been charged with a total of 17 offences.

Ten people were injured on October 3 after Samarasinghe allegedly drove his BMW convertible into a group of Knights fans lining a Newcastle street to wave the players off to the NRL grand final.

A five-year-old girl and a 67-year-old known as Dave “the Barber” Martin were among the injured. The girl’s family reported on an online fundraising site that she was in an induced coma and underwent multiple operations, with her mother also seriously injured.

There are no further updates on the five-year-old girl due to patient privacy concerns.

Martin and another male patient remain in John Hunter Hospital in a stable condition. Martin’s family posted on social media on Tuesday that he is still in hospital, with family seeking assistance to have him transported to his daughter’s wedding over the weekend.

Footage posted to social media showed the BMW careering around the roundabout moments before the crash, as onlookers screamed. Police confirmed they would investigate reports the P-plater had been “driving erratically” before he lost control of the vehicle.

Samarasinghe was granted bail last week to his family’s multimillion-dollar home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs under the care of his mother. He must report to police daily and is subject to an 8pm curfew. He is barred from driving, sitting in the passenger’s seat of a car and going within 20 kilometres of Newcastle.

Samarasinghe’s driver’s licence had been suspended in February 2026, which he unsuccessfully appealed in April 2026. Following the Newcastle crash, his licence was suspended again.

He will next face Newcastle Local Court on Thursday, where he is to appear via video link.

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