Seconds from crash Horror
CCTV SHOWS BANNED DRIVER LEADING POLICE ON HIGH-SPEED CHASE THROUGH CITY CENTRE BEFORE SMASHING INTO PEDESTRIAN
A DISQUALIFIED driver who left a man badly injured after a hit and run incident while trying to evade police has been jailed for three years and banned from driving for six and a half years.
Mohammad Yousuf Arshad, 23, from Cathays, was jailed for a string of offences on yesterday at Cardiff Crown Court.
Caught on CCTV, terrifying footage shown to the court showed the moment Arshad drove at high speed through Cardiff city centre while already disqualified from driving.
John Dare, 45, who works for Arriva Trains Wales and is from Barry, was taken to the University Hospital of Wales after being hit in Wood Street on July 26.
Arshad had been driving along Westgate Street shortly before the crash when a policeman in a marked vehicle stopped him to conduct a check.
Arshad was a disqualified driver and sped away from the officer, squeezing between other vehicles to try to escape.
He drove over the pavement on to Wood Street in his attempt to get away and was driving above the speed limit when he struck Mr Dare who was about to cross the road near the Vue Cinema after going to Greggs after work to pick up a pasty for his daughter.
Mr Dare suffered from severe head injuries and a broken shoulder and underwent major surgery.
A statement by Mr Dare made on August 6 and read to the court said: “I would like to say to the driver I have no particular feelings towards him.
“I understand that he did not stop which I find horrendous.
“He did not know how badly I was injured or if I was alive. Why did he not stop to help me?”
He added: “I am shocked at what happened to me. But I feel lucky to be alive.”
The court heard that Mr Dare and his family were due to go on holiday to Tenerife on August 10, which has now been cancelled and the family are “struggling” to get their £3,000 payment back.
Mr Dare’s statement added that he had 40 metal staples to seal his head injury and that he was “severely lucky” not to have a fractured skull or brain damage.
Mr Dare said that doctors at the University Hospital of Wales have told him it will take four to six months for his left arm to recover.
The court heard a statement from Andrew Miller, an orthopaedic registrar, who said that Mr Dare will be “significantly disabled” in his left arm and that he will have “reduced mobility in his shoulder joint” as a result of the crash.
Recorder of Cardiff Judge Eleri Rees said the crash was “life-changing for [Mr Dare] and his family.”
The court heard Arshad had taken the grey BMW from a sleeping friend without their consent and that during the ensuing police chase later in the day he reached speeds close to 60mph.
Judge Rees said that Arshad had driven “completely without thought of oncoming traffic or pedestrians” and that after hitting Mr Dare his “first thought was for [himself]”.
Arshad was jailed for causing serious injury by dangerous driving for three years.
He was also banned from driving for six and half years and then must take an extended driving test.
One statement read to the court by a pedestrian waiting for a bus in Wood Street said that when Arshad passed her she felt the “windforce”.
Analysis of CCTV footage estimated that Arshad was driving around 40mph.
The court heard that Arshad had