Drug addict who rammed police car in high-speed chase through Wakefield escapes jail sentence

Sajid Hussain appeared before Leeds Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and failing to surrender.

West Yorkshire Police officers tried to stop Hussain, of Northfield Road, Dewsbury, on November 23 2023, after spotting his Vauxhall Vectra engaging in what they believed to be a drug deal. The car then took off at speed.

Prosecutor Louise Pryke told the court how the 47-year-old reached speeds of up to 70mph driving through the residential estate of East Moor in Wakefield, and was forced to mount the pavement in a narrow miss with a local postman.

Three police cars and a force helicopter joined the chase, which was filmed by Hussain’s passenger leaning out of the car window, the court was told.

After attempting a box manoeuvre, Hussain reversed into a police vehicle, causing extensive damage and leaving one officer with whiplash. He later attempted the same move on another police car, but the officer driving managed to reverse out of the way.

The court heard how Hussain continued to drive at speed despite being hit by a police stinger to puncture his tyres, before the front wheel eventually came away from the vehicle altogether. Both he and his passenger ran off and gave no comment interviews immediately following their arrests.

In mitigation, defence counsel Oliver Norman said Hussain, who has previous convictions including for robbery and other driving offences, had suffered from “issues with impulsivity and not thinking through his actions” as a result of excessive drug use”.

He has since demonstrated he can stay out of trouble and has had no fresh legal complaints since getting clean, Mr Norman told the court. He said Hussain was “truly sorry and remorseful.”

Passing sentence, Judge Howard Crowson described it as “one of the worst bits of driving I’ve seen,” but accepted that Hussain had demonstrated his rehabilitation by staying out of trouble since.

He opted to hand Hussain a two-year community order, plus a nine-month drug rehabilitation requirement and 15 activity rehabilitation days. The 47-year-old was also disqualified from driving for two years, after which he will be required to take an extended test.

Judge Crowson warned him he faced a potential 16-month jail term if he breached any one of the stipulated conditions.