Trainee lawyer involved in accident after jumping traffic signal gets suspended jail term

A trainee lawyer who jumped red traffic lights and crashed his car into another vehicle leaving a man injured has been sentenced to a suspended jail term.

Sabbir Ahmed of Oldham whose one-year imprisonment has been suspended for 18 months is also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

He was driving his Volkswagen Passat in the Greater Manchester town when the accident took place in May last year.

He stopped at a junction on Featherstall Road but later jumped signals and his car hit an oncoming Toyota Yaris.

Mohammed Moneeb, who was in the Yaris, was seriously injured as a result of the accident. His arm was broken. He also suffered a bleed on his brain.

Moneeb was a passenger in the Yaris and his friend was at the wheel when it was hit on its left side by the Passat.

Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester heard that Ahmed became “impatient and started flashing his headlights ahead, seemingly in an apparent attempt to make the traffic lights change to green faster”.

“He then overtook a stationary car in front of him and jumped the lights at speed,” prosecutor John Richards said.

Moneeb who is believed to have fully recovered from his injuries said in a police statement that he did not remember the collision.

“But I remember waking up in hospital and had a problem using my legs and lungs,” he said adding, “until August last year, I was still struggling to slowly get better and I frequently suffer flashbacks.”

Ahmed’s lawyer Sonia O'Brien said her client expressed remorse about the crash and helped the individuals at the scene until the ambulance arrived “despite still being in shock."

Judge Recorder Abigail Hudson, who sentenced him to a suspended jail term, also ordered him to pay £350 in costs.

He has also been banned from driving for two years.