A driver narrowly avoided knocking down shoppers as he sped off from police along a pedestrianised street, a court has heard. Mohammad El-Anzi swerved around pedestrians before performing a U-turn outside a bank and then racing through a red traffic light. El-Anzi’s barrister told Swansea Crown Court the defendant “panicked” and put his foot down after being pulled over by police as he had previously been seriously assaulted by officers in his native Kuwait, and said his impulsive decision to drive away had been fuelled by his mental health issues.
Regan Walters, prosecuting, said on the late afternoon of January 28 this year police officers on foot patrol in Swansea city centre received reports that a white BMW and youngsters on bicycles had narrowly avoided coming into contact. The officers saw the car – which earlier that afternoon had been flagged up on the police computer as possibly being driven by somebody under the influence of drugs – on Whitewalls and stopped it.
The court heard one of the PCs leant in through the passenger window of the car and began talking to the driver, El-Anzi, telling him to turn off the engine and remove the keys from the ignition. With that, the BMW suddenly drove off in an “erratic manner” – forcing the second PC to get out of the way – and driving onto the pavement and swerving around a pedestrian as it headed down pedestrianised Oxford Street. It then turned right onto another pedestrianised street, Portland Street.
The court heard the officers ran after the fleeing car and managed to get their hands on the vehicle’s bonnet while shouting at the defendant to stop. El-Anzi performed a U-turn on Portland Street before driving off along Oxford Street, narrowly missing members of the public. At the traffic lights at the end of Oxford Street, he went through a red light and disappeared into Sandfields. The car was subsequently found unattended on Fleet Street.
Later that evening, 48-year-old El-Anzi walked into Swansea Central police station and handed himself in. The defendant was interviewed the following day and said he was scared of officers in uniform, and he apologised for his actions. He said he believed his international driving licence meant he was insured, and said he believed his previous driving ban had expired.
Amhamma El-Anzi, of Heol Frank, Penlan, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, and driving without insurance when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has two previous convictions for four offences including drink-driving and driving while disqualified from October 2022.
Caitlin Brazel, for El-Anzi, said the defendant had initially complied with the instructions of the officers when he stopped his car on Whitewalls but then, when he could not understand what the officer was saying due to the language barrier, he became “flustered” and then “panicked” and drove off. She said the defendant had lost the hearing in one of his ears after being assaulted by police in Kuwait before coming to the UK, and said his anxiety at dealing with the Welsh officer had been “fuelled” by his schizophrenia and severe depression and anxiety.
Judge David Wynn Morgan said it was clear from what he had read about the defendant that a psychiatrist was satisfied he had schizophrenia and characteristics of post-traumatic stress disorder, and that he had been leading an isolated and lonely life since moving to the UK. He said El-Anzi had put the safety of police officers and pedestrians at risk on the day in question, and said had the defendant made a deliberate decision to drive in the way he had done, he would be going to prison immediately. But the judge said he was satisfied El-Anzi’s driving was the result of panic and said it was in the best long-term interests of society that the defendant continue to engage with mental health services.
The defendant was given an 18-month community order and was banned from driving for two years. He will have to take and pass an extended driving test before he can get his licence back.