Court hears how Uber driver sparked terror alert chaos

A court heard how an Uber driver sparked a terror alert after mowing Eleven people down outside the Natural History Museum.

Juma Omar, from Barking in East London, denied one count of dangerous driving when he appeared at the Old Bailey yesterday.

It is alleged that the Uber driver mounted the pavement at the junction of Cromwell Road and Exhibition Road in South Kensington at approximately  2:20pm on October 7 last year.

The incident saw pedestrians mowed down before Omar finally came to a halt after colliding with two cars. 

Omar was driving a Black Toyota Prius, when he allegedly lost control of his vehicle after putting his foot on the accelerator and failed to remove his foot for around six seconds, before doing a u-turn and slamming into a crowd of people who had been trying to get out of his way.

Omar then got out of the vehicle repeatedly saying "i'm sorry" before being tackled to the ground by members of the public.

The Daily Mail reported how Prosecutor Bill McGivern explained that this was case of Omar pushing the wrong pedal and continuing to push it. 

The incident resulted in the counter-terrorism unit being deployed as fears grew that a terror related incident was in progress.

Eleven people suffered injuries as a result of the incident, none of them life-threatening.

An investigation on the vehicle found that there were no mechanical issues.

The trial continues.