Ambulance driver jailed for making up carjacking
Medic lied to police to cover for friend who ran man down
AN ambulance driver has been jailed for lying that he had been carjacked when really his ‘arrogant’ friend had mowed down a grandfather whilst using his Mazda.
Bodrul Islam put on a ‘performance’ for police as he claimed two men in Covid-19 masks, one of which branded a weapon, robbed him of his vehicle.
But the 32-year-old was actually trying to cover for Mohammed Shahid who had ploughed into 69-yearold Konar Ali on Stratford Road whilst overtaking queuing traffic.
He frantically called Islam and hatched a plan before fleeing the scene leaving the victim for dead in the road. Mr Ali has been left braindamaged and bed-bound from the incident.
Shahid has already been jailed. Islam, from Yarnfield Road, Acocks Green, admitted two counts of perverting the course of justice and was sentenced to 16 months at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday, .
The collision occurred at 11.30am on Saturday, June 26.
The court heard there were seven calls and a text message exchanged between Islam and Shahid from 11.33am to 11.49am. Both also dialled 999 with Shahid shamelessly claiming he had been a ‘witness’ to the incident.
Prosecutor Rupert Jones said: “Mr Islam reported his car had been stolen about 20 to 30 minutes earlier, asserting he was the victim of a carjacking by two unknown males who dragged him from the car.
“Plainly it was an attempt to lay an excuse for Mr Shahid and cast the blame for the collision to others unknown.
“As a result of the 999 call police attended Mr Islam’s address. He was out of breath, nervous and in distress. A performance for the police.”
Islam repeated his account over the following days when police asked him to show them the route he took before he was robbed. He was ultimately rumbled when CCTV proved his Mazda had not been down the roads he had claimed.
Richard Canning, defending, stated Islam was ‘vulnerable’ and was ‘engaged in this activity by somebody more sophisticated’.
He argued he would be ‘sorely needed’ by the NHS as the country continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic and made a plea for a jail sentence to be suspended in the
‘exceptional’ circumstances.
But Judge Roderick Henderson said: “I’m afraid the authorities are very clear this was a deliberate and sustained attempt to deceive the authorities. This strikes at the very heart of the system.”
He added it would be ‘impossible’ to protect road users if people were allowed to ‘cheat the system’.
Shahid, aged 31, of Evelyn Road, Sparkhill, previously admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified, driving without insurance and perverting the course of justice.
On November 24, he was jailed for four years and banned from the roads for five years. The court heard on that occasion the collision victim Mr Ali was now ‘severely disabled’, with speech impairment and brain injury.
He was described as a ‘pillar of the community’ by his family who said: “Everything he stood and cared for
has been recklessly taken away. He is no longer able to live independently.”
They added: “The actions of the defendant (Shahid) speak for themselves. They were selfish, thoughtless and inhumane. He left our father fighting for his life in the road. It was a horrific day for all involved how could he have left our helpless father?
“Now our father’s life is cut short. He has been stolen of his right to live life to the full.”
Shahid had overtaken at least ten cars waiting at a red light as he pulled out on to the wrong side of the road to park the Mazda before he ploughed into Mr Ali.
Judge Henderson, sentencing him last month, said: “You, in that way we have seen arrogant drivers do, decided you couldn’t be bothered to wait in the queue and so you overtook the other vehicles. This was a deliberately arrogant manoeuvre.”