Attempted murder charges brought after traffic officer run over with his own car
A man has been charged with attempting to murder a traffic officer who was knocked down and driven over while trying to arrest a suspected car thief.
Mubashar Hussain, 29, is alleged to have taken a police car in Moseley, Birmingham at around 4.45pm on Saturday (August 10), reversing into PC Gareth Phillips and knocking him down before driving over his body as he lay pinned under the vehicle.
Hussain was arrested shortly afterwards and has now been charged with a number of offences, including attempted murder.
PC Phillips, 42, who has been with West Midlands Police for 17 years and worked as a traffic officer for the last 12 of those, was left with potentially life-changing injuries including a broken pelvis and head and abdominal injuries.
PC Phillips’ family said they were grateful for all the messages of support from the police and public. “Gareth is still very poorly and faces a long battle to recover,” they said in a statement. What happened on Saturday demonstrates the dangers that officers face every day.”
Hussain also faces charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, a separate count of dangerous driving, wounding another officer who suffered a cut arm, four counts of assaulting officers, driving while disqualified, other motoring offences and two car thefts.
One of the thefts relates to a Range Rover Sport stolen just 15 minutes before the officer was struck, and another Range Rover stolen in Birmingham the previous day.
A second man, 24-year-old Ahsan Ghafoor, from Sparkhill, has been charged with the same two car thefts, plus dangerous driving and other motoring offences.
Both men appeared at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Monday (August 12). They were remanded in custody and will appear at Birmingham Crown Court on September 9.
West Midlands Police Superintendent Tom Joyce said: “The messages from the public have been really uplifting; it’s times like these that hit home to people what a challenging role policing can be and that officers across the country are putting themselves on the line every day to protect the public. Working in policing and helping people in need is a hugely rewarding job but it comes with its inherent risks.
“Everyone at West Midlands Police is hoping the officer makes a full and swift recovery and our thoughts are with him and his family.”
Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Boycott said: “This is a shocking attack in which a member of our police family has been seriously hurt while trying to detain a crime suspect.
“Attacks on our officers and staff won’t be tolerated and we will always seek the toughest possible criminal justice outcome for offenders.”
