Halifax man jailed for deliberately “ramming” police car during high-speed pursuit

A judge said that 29-year-old Jordon Foster, of Stoney Road Terrace, Halifax, had used the BMW he was driving as “a weapon” when the collision occurred as he drove the wrong way round a roundabout on Victoria Avenue in Bradford back in August 2020.

Prosecutor Alisha Kaye told Bradford Crown Court that Foster had been driving at double the 30mph limit during the 10-minute pursuit and PC Darren Smith had driving the right way round the roundabout when the defendant deliberately drove the BMW at him and his colleague.

Miss Kaye said the BMW was travelling at between 30 and 40mph and the force of the impact caused the police to spin 180 degrees, damaging the police vehicle enough it was written off.

Both officers gave chase on foot after Foster and his passenger fled, but they lost sight of them and after PC Smith dropped to the ground in pain he was taken to hospital.

He sustained muscle damage to his neck and back consistent with “whiplash”, but two days later he returned to hospital and was found to have suffered a fractured right wrist.

In a victim impact statement the officer, who had subsequently returned to work, described how he had felt immense pain and had been concerned about any possible long-lasting injuries.

Foster pleaded guilty earlier this year to offences of dangerous driving and assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was jailed today for a total of 30 months.

He was also banned from driving for three-and-a-half years and ordered to take an extended re-test.

Barrister Rebecca Young, for Foster, said shortly after the offences were committed her client received a community order for a separate offence and he had managed to keep out of trouble for the last two years.

She said Foster had moved back to his parents home, had his own cleaning business and had kept away from alcohol and drugs.

Miss Young said he had made significant progress and urged Recorder Ben Nolan KC to consider suspending any prison sentence.

But Recorder Nolan said it was serious offending which required a prison sentence of some length.

He said Foster had turned a dangerously driven car into a weapon by deliberately driving at the police car in order to ram it at speed.

The judge said the officer had been “disabled” for a significant period of time by the injuries and he had been off work and unable to do every tasks at home with his family.