A judge at Leicester Crown Court praised a van driver who deliberately mounted a pavement and ran down five men during Ramadan as “a good family man” who was behaving “completely out of character”.
According to a report in the Daily Mirror newspaper, 26-year-old Lugman Aslam, of Warren View, Leicester, had gotten into a physical altercation with the men after backing his van into one of them, during which he alleged he was racially abused.
Recorder (circuit judge) Justin Wigoder described how, following this incident, a vengeful Aslam returned to his van, mounted the pavement and ploughed through the group, in order to “get [his] own back”.
“I’ve seen it on CCTV and you deliberately mounted the pavement and drove straight at them and right through the middle of them at speed,” Wigoder said.
“Some were thrown to the side and three were struck by your vehicle front-on, with one going over the bonnet and hitting the windscreen.
“It’s quite remarkable that nobody was seriously hurt or killed and the only injuries complained of were bruises and scratches.
“One indication of the force of the collision was your windscreen was smashed – you claimed it had been hit by an animal when you got it repaired.”
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