Drug driver claimed 'God saved me' after deliberate high-speed smash left officer badly injured

The judge said Umayer Khan's driving was "truly lethal" after footage of the horror smash on the M62 near Pontefract was shown to Leeds Crown Court this week.

After failing to outrun police, the 21-year-old - who had no licence and was high on cannabis - used his car as a "battering ram" to smash through a rolling blockade, with disastrous consequences.

He later tried to blame the police by saying there must have been a reason that God chose to save him and his passengers while the officer was left badly injured.

Eventually, he pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, having no licence, driving without insurance insurance and being over the limit for cannabis.

Judge Neil Clark told him: "This is the worst driving I have ever seen in this court. It was truly lethal driving.

"You endangered the safety of everybody, used your car as a battering ram and caused a serious life-changing injury.

"I can't think of a more dangerous or serious piece of driving as this."

Prosecutor Samuel Ponniah said police were alerted to Khan's Seat Ibiza on the M62 eastbound at around 11pm on September 3 last year.

They suspected the car, which also contained several passengers, was involved with transporting drugs.

When they tried to pull him over, he reached speeds of up to 122mph and undertook vehicles, swerved into the path of chasing police vehicles and drove along the hard shoulder.

Officers then tried to tactically block him by placing slow-moving police cars ahead of him in each lane of the motorway near to J32a.

He tried to go around the vehicles on the hard shoulder but failed and deliberately rammed through two police cars.

The collision sent car spinning into the central reservation and it hit a concrete column. The officer in the vehicle was left with the skin and tissue ripped from his thigh and two fractured vertebrae. It is sill unknown if he will ever work for the police again.

Khan's Seat ended up on its roof and he ran off, but was later found hiding in a ditch.

Also in court: Dangerous driver mounted pavements and 'put lives at risk'

Mr Ponniah said that Khan made some admissions during interview, but sought to shift blame to the officers with his comment about God.

He later tried to justify his actions further, saying he had lived in Pakistan as a youngster and driving licences were not necessary.

But Judge Clark quickly dismissed his claim, questioning why he had applied for a provisional licence in the UK if he did not think he needed one.

Mitigating, Rukshanda Hussain admitted Khan's interview with police had been "terrible" but added: "He knows there's no excuse for his behaviour that night, he can't apologise enough to the police officer.

"He has come prepared for a prison sentence. He is still a young man and has no previous convictions."

Judge Clark jailed Khan, of Gaythorne Road, Bradford, for 45 months, the maximum he could impose given a reduction for his guilty pleas.

He was also banned from driving for 47 months.