'Coward' Blackburn man fled scene of road crash, leaving injured friend in lurch

A young Blackburn man who left his friend for dead ‘in a cowardly way’ after causing an accident by driving recklessly has been jailed.

Akhlaq Ahmed, 21, will undergo imprisonment for 18 months for dangerous driving causing injuries and a further four years for possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply.

Preston Crown Court heard Ahmed picked up Atif Zarif and two others in his Audi S3 car on May 6 last year and drove around Blackburn while he showed off at the wheel. Zarif said in a police statement that Ahmed who was undertaking and overtaking over vehicles cared little when he told him to slow down at a bend on Pleckgate Road.

However, the car, moving at 47 mph, collided with a stationary vehicle with data showing he applied the brakes just two seconds before the collision.

When smoke started coming out of the wreckage, Ahmed ran away from the scene, leaving an injured Zarif to help himself.

As the accident left him with his leg shattered and three of his fingers broken, Zarif spent more than two weeks in a hospital including a day of intensive care. He underwent surgery to insert metal rods into his leg.

Zarif who was on crutches for months after the accident said he suffered a loss of confidence and his relationship came to an end due to his injuries.

"It has had a very big impact and left me in a very dark hole", he said in a victim statement.

Ahmed admitted to dangerous driving and leaving the scene of the collision.

He also pleaded guilty to another offence - possession with intent to supply Class A drugs in connection with a previous incident when he and another man, Mohammed Jaber, 21, were caught in Blackburn.

Recorder Paul Hodgkinson said Ahmed who was “undoubtedly showing off” persisted to drive dangerously and crashed despite warnings.

"Perhaps most telling of all is the cowardly way in which you left your supposed friend for dead at the scene, so concerned were you about escaping. Your friend was seriously injured and you left him to die at the roadside because you wanted to get away. Shame on you for leaving your friend in such a prone and difficult position. You had no interest in anyone there but yourself."

In addition to the jail terms for dangerous driving and possession of drugs, Ahmed also got 10 months of imprisonment for possessing class B drugs. The jail terms will run concurrently.

Jaber has been handed 24 months of suspended jail term with 10 days of rehabilitation activity requirements.