The victim of a horrific drive-by shooting has been spared an immediate prison sentence for deliberately reversing into a police vehicle at 30mph during a pursuit around central Bradford.

Eugene Nelson was suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder after he was shot in the face in Holme Wood, Bradford, in a case of mistaken identity.

Urging the judge at Bradford Crown Court not to send him immediately to custody, his barrister Erin Kitson-Parker said he had suffered a traumatic few years following the well-documented attack.

Nelson, 36, of Fagley Road, Fagley, Bradford, was the hardworking boss of a scaffolding company that employed five people, and his wife and four children depended on him for support.

He was sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to dangerous driving and assaulting two police officers on June 19 last year. Prosecutor Philip Adams said the incident began shortly after 11am when police on patrol in Sticker Lane saw Nelson in a Transit van they suspected was uninsured.

He pulled over and then set off at 60mph in a 30 limit, overtaking and forcing vehicles to swerve. He jumped a red light on Killinghall Road causing a driver to perform an emergency stop.

Mr Adams said the four-minute pursuit continued on to Dudley Hill Road and Cote Road in Thackley.

Nelson then stopped and reversed at speed towards the police vehicle that backed up to avoid a serious collision.

He accelerated off along Harrogate Road, mounting the central reservation before stopping in the middle of the carriageway.

He then reversed again toward the police vehicle at a speed the officers estimated to be at least 30mph. The force of the impact caused one officer’s head to snap back and his colleague’s knee struck the dashboard.

There was £8,000 damage to the police vehicle meaning the officers had to abandon the pursuit.

One of them had an aching neck and back for two weeks, although he carried on with his duties, Mr Adams said.

Miss Kitson-Parker said it was ‘a horrendous episode of dangerous driving’ but Nelson had handed himself in the next day and gone on to plead guilty.

Recorder Richard Wright KC said that although his van was insured, the police had every right to stop and speak to him. He had deliberately collided with their vehicle causing damage and injuring two officers.

But he had read testimonials on Nelson’s behalf and accepted that he had post-traumatic stress disorder at the time and ongoing mental health difficulties.

It was 13 years since he was last before the courts and he was a hardworking family man who supported others.

He was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, with 30 rehabilitation activity days. He was ordered to pay £2,500 compensation to each police officer and £500 court costs.