Three men have been jailed for a total of almost 24 years for a horrific machete attack on a lone driver in broad daylight.
The victim was struck with two of the weapons after his car was rammed in Allerton Road, Bradford, on September 11 last year in what Judge Richard Mansell QC described as “an appalling example of premeditated gang violence.”
Rizwan Basharat, the driver who deliberately ran into the man’s car to disable it and then joined in the attack, was jailed for nine years.
Kamran Khan, who smashed the vehicle windows with a machete and aimed blows at the victim with it, was locked up for eight years.
Akash Ali, who the Crown accepted did not wield a machete but who took part in the joint enterprise, was jailed for six years and nine months.
Basharat, 27, of no fixed address; Khan, 23, of Aberford Road, Girlington, Bradford; and Ali, 24, of Whitehead Grove, Fagley, Bradford, were all sentenced for unlawfully and maliciously wounding their victim with intent to do him grievous bodily harm.
Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday that a fourth man, known as KK, also took part in the attack but had not been apprehended.
Prosecutor Katherine Robinson said Basharat was not before the court for the hearing because he was isolating at HMP Leeds due to Covid-19 issues. But he had told his lawyers he still wanted to be sentenced.
Khan and Ali were sentenced on a video link to the prison.
Miss Robinson said that Ali had pleaded guilty to the offence. The remaining two defendants were convicted after a trial. She 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 the victim, who had been reluctant to come to court to give evidence.
The man had been driving down Allerton Road in broad daylight when he encountered Basharat and his three passengers.
Basharat crossed the road at speed in his vehicle and smashed into the victim’s car, effectively disabling it.
The three defendants and KK had jumped out to attack the man and smash up his car.
Members of the public had filmed the incident on their phones, the court was told.
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.
Basharat was on licence at the time having served a jail sentence for drugs trafficking.
His barrister, Jeremy Barton, said he was not initially armed. Then he did wield a machete but not to the extent that some of the others did.
Ian Hudson, for Khan, said he had no previous convictions. He was only 22 at the time and he had spent more than a year on remand in prison.
Alasdair Campbell, Ali’s barrister, said he did not have a machete but accepted it was a joint enterprise attack, knowing that others were armed. The victim suffered four lacerations but no permanent damage was caused in an incident that lasted just seconds.
“It was a short brutal attack and not sustained or repeated,” Mr Campbell said.
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