There’s reckless driving, and then there’s using a car as a battering ram against a police officer. Zain Mohsin managed both in the span of a few minutes on the streets of Bradford. He hit 90mph in 30mph zones in the wet, ran a red light, and when the chase finally ended, he reversed his Volkswagen Golf into a police car eight separate times. The officer behind the wheel walked away with whiplash injuries and a long list of aches that lasted through the end of his shift.
Mohsin, 36, of no fixed abode in Bradford, has now been jailed after Bradford Crown Court heard prosecutors describe his Golf as being used as a weapon — not hyperbole once you look at what actually happened. This wasn’t a panicked driver trying to get away; it was a man with a staggering history behind the wheel.
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How the Pursuit Started
Mohsin’s passenger got out of the car and became obstructive, pulling the officer out of his own vehicle to deal with the situation. The moment the officer was out, Mohsin hit the gas. What followed was a three-and-a-half-minute pursuit at speeds reaching 90mph through 30mph zones, around the Thornbury roundabout, through a red light at Arkwright Street, and on toward Dudley Hill before he finally pulled over.
The Ramming
That’s where the story turns from a dangerous chase into something far worse. According to prosecutor Flint, the officer positioned his vehicle at an angle to block Mohsin from taking off again and ordered him to switch the engine off. Mohsin didn’t comply — instead, he reversed and drove into the nearside of the police car eight times, causing extensive damage to the vehicle.
The officer paid for it physically. By the end of his shift he was dealing with pain in his lower back, neck, shoulders, chest, and torso, along with headaches. Flint told the court Mohsin had used the car as the equivalent of a weapon to inflict whiplash injuries through forceful ramming. Bodycam footage of the chase and the collision was played for the judge in court. When Mohsin was detained a short distance away and interviewed, he denied being the driver at all and claimed he was just a passenger.
A Record That Speaks for Itself
That denial is almost laughable given Mohsin’s history. He was banned from driving at the time of the incident — not freshly banned, either. The court heard he had been disqualified 11 times and carried four previous convictions for dangerous driving. His overall record runs to 22 previous convictions for 54 offences, and he had been jailed for dangerous driving just last year. He was also carrying a 39-month driving ban at the time.
He eventually pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, failing to stop, and having no insurance. His defence, led by Celine Kart, acknowledged what she called his unenviable record but argued he would benefit from detailed work with the Probation Service, describing what looked like a rotating door to his offending and saying he needed tailored support. She also called him remorseful, pointing to his abstinence from substances since being recalled into prison, and asked the court to consider a suspended sentence rather than immediate custody.
The Judge Wasn’t Buying It
Mr Recorder Richard Thyne KC accepted that Mohsin had taken responsibility, apologised, and suffered from anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems. But he weighed that against the shocking record and the injuries the officer suffered, and rejected the call for a suspended sentence. He told Mohsin, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds, that he posed a high risk of reconviction and a high risk of harm to police, the public, and himself, and that there was no realistic prospect structured probation work would take hold at this stage.
So custody it was. Mohsin received 12 months for dangerous driving plus four months for a separate dangerous driving offence, to be served consecutively, along with three months for driving while disqualified to run concurrently. He was banned from driving for 31 months with an eight-month extension tied to his latest jail term, and his licence was endorsed. He must pass an extended retest before he can drive legally again, a requirement imposed last year. He’ll serve 40 percent of his sentence before being released on licence.
Why This Matters
He was banned from being anywhere near a steering wheel, yet there he was at 90mph in a residential zone with a passenger and a false name ready to go. The system kept handing him bans, and he kept ignoring them.
The real question is what a ban actually means when someone treats it as a suggestion. Mohsin will be back on the street eventually, retest or not, and his own record shows what tends to happen next. A disqualification only works if the person respects it or the consequences finally outweigh the habit. For a serial offender who turned his Golf into a weapon against a police officer, the hard part is believing this jail term will be the one that breaks the cycle.