Monday, December 21, 2020

Man who drove at police officer jailed

 A man who mowed down an armed police officer who had been trying to stop his car has been jailed.

Aydin Altun, 26, drove his Mercedes at PC Lewis Crowder in Tottenham, north London, on 29 October last year.

The officer clung on to the bonnet for a split-second before throwing himself from the vehicle.

Altun, of Suffolk Road, Tottenham, was jailed for 11 years and nine months having previously been found guilty of attempted GBH with intent.

An Old Bailey jury cleared him of attempted murder.

Aydin AltunIMAGE COPYRIGHTMET POLICE
image captionAydin Altun was found guilty of attempted GBH with intent

PC Crowder and two of his colleagues in the firearms unit had stopped the car as part of an investigation into a shooting the night before, the jury was told.

He had raised his semi-automatic rifle and shouted "armed police, armed police, show me your hands, show me your hands" when Altun drove at him.

The court heard the Met PC narrowly missed hitting concrete bollards and a bus stop when he crashed to the ground and he had suffered concussion, cuts and a ligament injury.

Giving evidence, PC Crowder said he had been "scared for my life" and had "thought I was going to die".

Police at the scene in TottenhamIMAGE COPYRIGHTTWITTER @999LONDON
image captionPC Lewis Crowder suffered concussion, cuts and a ligament injury in the crash

Sentencing Altun, Judge Wendy Joseph QC said the defendant had driven "with the grossest recklessness towards the officer" and then "accelerated up the road as fast as he could, creating enormous danger not just to the officer but other road and pavement users".

She praised PC Crowder's courage in throwing himself off the bonnet, saying the consequences could have been "catastrophic" had he not.

The court heard Altun was on bail on suspicion of firearms offences at the time of the incident, but had not been prosecuted for that.

He had 26 previous convictions for 48 offences including having a blade and numerous driving offences, including four periods of disqualification.

The 26-year-old was also banned from driving and jailed for 16 months having pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, with his sentence to run concurrently.

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