{"id":926455,"date":"2026-10-13T09:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T09:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/926455\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T09:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T09:22:15","slug":"indika-bambrick-samarasinghe-newcastle-driver-charged-with-additional-eight-offences-bringing-total-to-17-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/926455\/","title":{"rendered":"Indika Bambrick Samarasinghe: Newcastle driver charged with additional eight offences bringing total to 17 charges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Amber Schultz\" data-testid=\"author-avatar-image\" height=\"64\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791883332_546_6cf3ef58425442818dbc04724af4be2696ecdd06.png\"  width=\"64\" class=\"sc-9a01536c-0 libeSR\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"article-datetime\" class=\"sc-5cbbddda-5 hxoHkT\">October 13, 2026 \u2014 5:47pm<\/p>\n<p>Save<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-d1b14060-4 JmUoF\">You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n<p>Remove items from your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/goodfood\/saved\" class=\"sc-3f16ee48-12 sc-d1b14060-2 jyLmZI iQLtAb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n<p id=\"gift-modal-heading\" class=\"sc-cc1ff359-7 cTuVzZ\">No gift articles left<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-cc1ff359-8 ctIrFC\">You&#8217;ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n<p>Close<\/p>\n<p>AAA<\/p>\n<p>The 18-year-old driver who allegedly <a class=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/national\/nsw\/newcastle-crash-multiple-people-injured-after-car-crashes-into-knights-fans-20261003-p612jm.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">drove into a group of Newcastle Knights supporters<\/a>, injuring 10 of them, has been charged with an additional eight offences.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>He has now been charged with a total of 17 offences.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Indika Bambrick Samarasinghe  reports to police on Tuesday.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/d9289f799fa037c6ef2c82b5c76f14adbf853683.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ldCIuB\"\/>Indika Bambrick Samarasinghe  reports to police on Tuesday.Jeremy Piper<\/p>\n<p>Ten people were injured on October 3 after Samarasinghe allegedly drove his BMW convertible into <a class=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/national\/nsw\/newcastle-crash-multiple-people-injured-after-car-crashes-into-knights-fans-20261003-p612jm.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a group of Knights fans<\/a> lining a Newcastle street to wave the players off to the NRL grand final.<\/p>\n<p>A five-year-old girl and a 67-year-old known as Dave \u201cthe Barber\u201d Martin were among the injured. The girl\u2019s family reported on an online fundraising site that she was in an induced coma and underwent multiple operations, with her mother also seriously injured.<\/p>\n<p>There are no further updates on the five-year-old girl due to patient privacy concerns.<\/p>\n<p>Martin and another male patient remain in John Hunter Hospital in a stable condition. Martin\u2019s family posted on social media on Tuesday that he is still in hospital, with family seeking assistance to have him transported to his daughter\u2019s wedding over the weekend.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paramedics prepare to transport a patient by helicopter after 10 people, who had gathered to farewell the Newcastle Knights team bus, were injured by a car driving into the crowd.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2f6cc53143758429769c350ab8d2c623e9b99b74.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ldCIuB\"\/>Paramedics prepare to transport a patient by helicopter after 10 people, who had gathered to farewell the Newcastle Knights team bus, were injured by a car driving into the crowd.Sitthixay Ditthavong<\/p>\n<p>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 \u201cdriving erratically\u201d before he lost control of the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>Related Article<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/national\/nsw\/p-plater-accused-of-horror-newcastle-car-crash-bailed-to-family-home-in-sydney-s-eastern-suburbs-20261009-p6146y.html\" tabindex=\"-1\" class=\"sc-cba76dee-0 hdiTqm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Indika Bambrick Samarasinghe with his mother Nicola Bambrick at Burano, Venice.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cb9fab916af95ae6d7c669ef862f7f534269afb8.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ioInpc\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Samarasinghe was granted bail last week to his family\u2019s multimillion-dollar home in Sydney\u2019s 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\u2019s seat of a car and going within 20 kilometres of Newcastle.<\/p>\n<p>Samarasinghe\u2019s driver\u2019s licence had been suspended in February 2026, which he unsuccessfully appealed in April 2026. Following the Newcastle crash, his licence was suspended again.<\/p>\n<p>He will next face Newcastle Local Court on Thursday, where he is to appear via video link.<\/p>\n<p>Be the first to know when major news happens. <a class=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/newsletter-signup?newsletter=breaking-news&amp;utm_source=EditorialArticle&amp;utm_medium=ArticleText&amp;utm_campaign=Newsletters\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up for breaking news alerts<\/a> on email or turn on notifications in the app.<\/p>\n<p>Save<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-d1b14060-4 JmUoF\">You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n<p>Remove items from your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/goodfood\/saved\" class=\"sc-3f16ee48-12 sc-d1b14060-2 jyLmZI iQLtAb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n<p id=\"gift-modal-heading\" class=\"sc-cc1ff359-7 cTuVzZ\">No gift articles left<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-cc1ff359-8 ctIrFC\">You&#8217;ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n<p>Close<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Amber Schultz\" data-testid=\"author-avatar-image\" height=\"40\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791883335_756_6cf3ef58425442818dbc04724af4be2696ecdd06.png\"  width=\"40\" class=\"sc-9a01536c-0 libeSR\"\/><a class=\"sc-cba76dee-0 hdiTqm sc-b5b9fd03-2 jcGta-D\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/by\/amber-schultz-h0wak8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Amber Schultz<\/a> is a crime and justice reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via <a class=\"sc-cba76dee-0 hdiTqm sc-b5b9fd03-5 czsZcI\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/@AmberMaySchultz?lang=en\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">X<\/a> or <a class=\"sc-cba76dee-0 hdiTqm sc-b5b9fd03-5 czsZcI\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/national\/mailto:am.schultz@smh.com.au\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"October 13, 2026 \u2014 5:47pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":926456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-926455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=926455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/926456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=926455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=926455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=926455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}