A man whose dangerous driving in darkness on the M6 caused a fellow motorist to fear for his family’s lives has been given an immediate jail term.
Shocked witnesses watched as 39-year-old Amar Manzoor sped along lane three of the motorway’s southbound carriageway close to Junction 36 at around 6.45pm on Friday, October 29 last year on his way home from his shift as a locum in Carlisle.
He was driving at speed and flashing the headlights of his BMW 325 to push his way through traffic, the city’s crown court heard.
Some drivers moved out of the way, leaving Manzoor directly behind a BMW X5. As the driver that vehicle tried to move into lane two, Manzoor repeatedly flashed his lights, undertook him, moved left and right, straddling lanes, essentially leaving the man with nowhere to go.
There was a collision between the two BMWs with the innocent party’s car also hitting the central reservation and spinning into the path of an oncoming truck but further contact was mercifully avoided.
“There is a Russian doll of poor driving,” said prosecutor Andrew Evans of Manzoor’s criminal conduct. “It gets gradually more serious.”
The other driver had later stated: “The defendant’s actions caused me to crash into the back of him at motorway speed with my children and wife in the car. I feared for our lives. Both children suffer from disabilities and were extremely frightened.”
When quizzed by police, Manzoor initially denied his driving was dangerous and, the court heard, suggested others had concocted a story to make him look bad. The father-of-five later admitted a dangerous driving charge on the day he was due to stand trial.
Nigel Beeson, mitigating, said that guilty plea was better late than never. “I do not seek to minimise the poor standard of driving that my client displayed,” he told the court. “He wishes to express his remorse through me so it can be heard by all.”
Recorder Paul Hodgkinson concluded that only immediate custody could meet the justice of the case, and jailed Manzoor, of Plodder Lane, Farnworth, near Bolton, for 10 months.
“You were flashing your lights, no doubt considering yourself more important than other road users, and your journey more important than everyone else’s,” said the judge. “It was persistent, it was deliberate and it was highly dangerous.”
Recorder Hodgkinson also noted the conclusions of a probation officer’s pre-sentence report, which stated that Mazoor failed to acknowledge that his actions could have resulted in the loss of life.
He must serve a three-year driving ban when released from prison, and pass an extended retest.
