Banned Driver Rammed into Police Officer trying to Escape

Banned driver Aqeel Ishtiaq, aged 28, of Hall Green, Birmingham, was jailed for five years and 10 months after he rammed into a police officer who had tried to stop him getting away.

Birmingham Crown Court heard that officers saw him acting suspiciously near a Volkswagen Golf parked in Solihull town centre on January 4, 2019.

Ishtiaq walked towards the car unlocking it remotely before walking away again. When questioned, he said he was not the driver.

But he returned and got into the vehicle. PC Spencer Lunn and other officers tried to stop him making off by surrounding the car.

The officer, who stood in front of the car, broke the windscreen with his baton but Ishtiaq drove forward into him.

PC Lunn collapsed in pain and suffered a serious knee injury.

He was taken to hospital where it was revealed he had suffered cruciate ligament damage. This forced him to be off work for 12 weeks before returning to light duties.

Ishtiaq was on bail at the time following an incident involving a stolen car on June 25, 2017.

He had attempted to sell a stolen Audi A3, worth £30,000, to a man in Ireland. Ishtiaq had arranged to meet with him at Birmingham Airport.

The man became suspicious and contacted the police. Officers who went to the airport saw Ishtiaq driving the car which was on false plates.

The prosecutor Nicholas Tatlow explained that Ishtiaq sped off. At one point, he reached 110mph in a 60mph zone.

For approximately five miles, Ishtiaq went through several red lights, collided with other vehicles, causing injury to the drivers and caused pedestrians to get out of the way.

The force of one collision forced a driver onto the pavement and into a wall.

Ishtiaq also sped through queues of traffic and drove on the central reservation.

At one point, the police abandoned the chase when Ishtiaq drove the wrong way on a dual carriageway.

He tried to run away after the final collision but was caught.

Ishtiaq pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, handling stolen goods and driving while disqualified.

Judge Heidi Kubic said it had been a “professional and sophisticated” attempt to dispose of a stolen car and it was “prolonged bad driving placing other road users in severe danger”.

Speaking about the incident involving PC Lunn, she told the banned driver:

“You did not respond to their verbal command to stop. You started your engine and made a determined attempt to get away.”

“It was clear from the footage that you drove into Police Constable Lunn.”

Mohammed Afzal, defending Ishtiaq, said: “He stopped as soon as he realised he had caused the officer injury.

“He had the good sense to realise what he had done.”

The Birmingham Mail reported that Aqeel Ishtiaq was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison. He also received a driving ban of 10 years and 11 months.