This harrowing footage shows the moment a hit-and-run driver ploughed his car into a group of pedestrians in south London.

Mustafa Esmail drove his vehicle into the crowd of people as they stood on a pavement in Stockwell Road, Lambeth.

Shocking CCTV shows the car careering down the road before swerving into the group's path.

The terrified group turn as if to flee but have no chance to escape before the vehicle crashes into them.

The five men who were hurt, aged between 23 and 42, suffered multiple broken bones including leg fractures, a broken shin and a spleen injury.

A number of the victims required surgery though none suffered life changing injuries following the incident, which took place in December 2017.

Esmail has now been jailed for 16 years after pleading guilty to five counts of GBH.

The court heard that at around 3am on a Saturday, Esmail and a group of friends attempted to gain entry to a bar but were not allowed in.

An altercation followed in which a man was assaulted and threatened by Esmail, who left the scene.

Minutes later, he returned in a white VW Golf, driving onto the pavement outside the bar and hitting into the group.

He abandoned the car and fled on foot, along with a number of other occupants of the vehicle.

Detective Constable Tom Baxter, from the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “Esmail’s deliberate actions left a number five victims with significant injuries and it is only down to sheer good fortune and the work of the emergency services that the consequences were not more grave.

“Esmail attempted to evade police but will now have a considerable period of time to reflect on his behaviour that night."

Officers from Lambeth CID launched an investigation, before identifying the car used in the attack was a rental vehicle, hired the previous day.

A phone in the car linked it to Esmail, alongside blood found on the airbag and fingerprints on the windows.

Police established a call was made to a taxi firm minutes after the incident and the driver confirmed he picked up Esmail along with two other men.

On Thursday, June 21, 2018, following an extensive manhunt, Esmail was stopped in Hounslow and arrested.

Despite giving false details, fingerprints revealed his true identity.

He was then charged in connection with the Stockwell Road offence.

Esmail, of no fixed abode, was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, July 10.

He was also sentenced to nine months for an unrelated ABH offence to be served concurrently.