Three Men jailed for Brutal Roadside Machete Attack

Three men from Bradford have been jailed for a total of almost 24 years for a brutal roadside machete attack on a lone driver.

On September 11, 2019, the victim was struck with two of the weapons after his car was first rammed by the suspects’ vehicle in Allerton Road, Bradford.

Despite the victim being reluctant to testify at Bradford Crown Court, Judge Richard Mansell QC handed out stiff sentences.

Described as “an appalling example of premeditated gang violence,” Judge Mansell jailed three men who played a part in a vicious attack on a lone driver.

Rizwan Basharat, aged 27, of no fixed address, was given nine years. Kamran Khan, aged 23, of Aberford Road, Girlington received eight years and Akash Ali, aged 24, of Whitehead Grove, Fagley was jailed for six years and nine months.

All three were sentenced for unlawfully and maliciously wounding their victim with intent to do him grievous bodily harm.

During the hearing, the court heard the sequence of events which led to the vicious attack on the victim.

Basharat was the driver behind the wheel of the car used to ram into the victim’s vehicle intending to disable it.

Khan then jumped out and smashed the target vehicle’s windows with a machete and aimed blows at the victim with it.

They were aided by Ali, who the Crown stated did not wield a machete but took part in the attack.

A fourth man, only known as KK, also took part in the attack but has not been apprehended.

Basharat was not present at court for the hearing because he was isolating at HMP Leeds due to Covid-19 issues. The court heard that he had told his lawyers he still wanted to be sentenced.

Khan and Ali were sentenced on a video link to the prison.

Court prosecutor Katherine Robinson said that Ali had pleaded guilty to the offence. The remaining two defendants were convicted after a trial.

Miss Robinson said they were all being dealt with for their parts in a “joint enterprise”.

Judge Mansell said the motive for the attack was known only to the defendants and that the man had been driving down Allerton Road in broad daylight when he encountered Basharat and his three accomplices.

Basharat crossed the road at speed in his vehicle and smashed into the victim’s car, disabling it.

The four men then jumped out of their vehicle and proceeded to destroy the victim’s car and attack him unscrupulously.

The court heard that passersby filmed the incident on their phones in shock.

The victim suffered lacerations to his arms when he held them up to defend himself.

He was taken to a nearby shop afterwards with blood pouring from his wounds.

At the time of the incident, Rizwan Basharat was still on a prison licence having just finished a custodial sentence for drugs trafficking.

His barrister, Jeremy Barton argued that Basharat was not initially armed and that when he did wield a machete, his attack was not as violent as his accomplices.

Ian Hudson, representing Khan, said he had no previous convictions. He was only 22 at the time and had already been remanded over a year inside prison since the date of the attack.

Alasdair Campbell, Ali’s barrister, said he did not have a machete but accepted it was a joint enterprise attack and was fully aware that others in his group were armed. He added:

“It was a short, brutal attack and not sustained or repeated.”

The Telegraph and Argus reported that the victim suffered four lacerations in an attack that lasted just seconds and that no permanent damage was caused in an incident.