Criminal who hijacked unmarked police car and ran over officer before 97mph chase jailed for 12 years

Mubashar Hussain had been Tasered before running over PC Gareth Phillips

A man has been jailed for 12 years for running over a police officer in a hijacked police car before speeding through Birmingham at 97mph.

Dramatic footage showed the moment PC Gareth Phillips was hit by Mubashar Hussain, leaving him fighting for his life.

The 42-year-old officer suffered multiple pelvic fractures and serious internal injuries in the attack on 10 August – five days before PC Andrew Harper was killed by a vehicle in Berkshire.

He underwent three rounds of emergency surgery, including the first operation described as “life-saving”, and spent four weeks in hospital.

PC Phillips, who has served with West Midlands Police for almost two decades, had been responding to reports of a stolen car in Birmingham.

The Range Rover Sport was traced to Moorcroft Road in Moseley, where Hussain was found behind the wheel wearing a balaclava with fellow car thief Ahsan Ghafoor in the front passenger seat.

Footage caught on police body-worn cameras and dashcam footage showed Ghafoor being swiftly arrested after throwing a brick towards officers.

But Hussain, who had been handed a four-year driving ban in 2018, fought officers and managed to jump into an unmarked police BMW after being Tasered by PC Phillips.

The officer attempted to detain Hussain and clung onto the door as he got inside, but was flung to the ground when Hussain slammed the car into reverse.

PC Phillips was then driven over by both sets of wheels as Hussain drove away, starting a police chase where he hit speeds of up to 97mph, drove on the wrong side of the road and swerved dangerously through traffic.

Hussain abandoned the police car 10 minutes later in Balsall Heath, where he attempted to hide after changing his clothes in a shop.

The 29-year-old was confronted by armed police and detained after being tracked by a helicopter and police officers using the vehicle’s own systems.

Sentencing Hussain, Judge Mark Wall QC said: “You are a habitual dangerous driver. The level of your offending is increasing and not diminishing.

“The police made efforts to detain you. They took hold of you, ripped off your balaclava and Tasered you when you persistently refused to co-operate. None of this deterred you from your efforts to avoid being arrested.

“PC Phillips has been left with potentially life-changing injuries. The surgeon who treated him regarded them as life-threatening.

“His victim impact statement makes it clear that the incident has had a dramatic impact on himself and his wife.”

Ahsan Ghafoor and Mubashar Hussain (left) being detained shortly before Hussain ran over a police officer on 10 August (West Midlands Police)

He told the defendant he will serve at least two-thirds of the 12-year sentence - and be required to spend an extended five-year period on licence following his eventual release.

In a statement read to the court, PC Phillips told how he blacked out and regained consciousness in the road feeling “pain I can’t describe … pain I had never felt before”.

He said he spent two weeks in intensive care and was told by doctors that the first operation had saved his life.

“It’s too early to say what my long-term prognosis will be and I’m certainly facing more surgery in the weeks and months to come,” PC Phillips said.

“It is unclear if I will ever be able to return to work - but being a police officer is a job that I love. It is something I have done for almost the two decades, and will do everything I can to get back into policing.”

When being interviewed by police, Hussain apologised and claimed to “feel bad“ for what he’d done, suggesting it was “madness” and that he had panicked.

He was initially charged with attempted murder but later admitted an alternative charge of wounding with intent to resist arrest at Birmingham Crown Court.

Hussain also admitted 11 other offences including causing grievous bodily harm, two counts of vehicle theft, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, assaults against three other officers, aggravated vehicle-taking and two charges of having no insurance.

He has four previous convictions for dangerous driving and has also been jailed for car theft and conspiring to steal motor vehicles.

PC Gareth Phillips with his dog in hospital, where he underwent several rounds of surgery (West Midlands Police)

Ghafoor, of Fulham Road in Sparkhill, was jailed for 28 months after admitting two counts of car theft and three other offences.

The 24-year-old also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, having no insurance and driving other than in accordance with a licence.

Supt Dave Twyford, the head of West Midlands Police’s traffic unit, said PC Phillips had been working a normal day hunting car thieves and trying to protect the public.

“I’ve heard people say many times how he lives for the job and is a copper through and through,” he added.

“What happened on the afternoon of 10 August was nothing short of horrific. Gaz suffered awful injuries. He could have died.”

Supt Twyford said the attack had a “huge emotional impact” on the officers who witnessed it and their colleagues, and that psychological help was being offered.

“Despite the awful impact the incident had on our staff I’m proud to say they remained stoic in the face of adversity and worked together to ensure a comprehensive investigation was carried out,” he added.

“Hussain has rightly been put behind bars for many years for this deliberate act of grotesque violence against a man whose job it is to protect the public.”

Chief constable Dave Thompson said it was never acceptable for people to consider attacks on officers as simply “part of the job”, amid rising assaults.

He said there were an average of 25 assaults on West Midlands Police officers every weeks, adding: “The nature of policing requires officers to handle difficult, sometimes hostile situations, but assaults upon them are serious and unacceptable.”