COUNCIL chiefs have warned anyone attacking or abusing its wardens will face the courts after a banned driver was jailed for trying to punch one of them over a parking ticket.

Mohammed Shoaib, 23, swung his fist at Council employee John Demaine and then drove off at speed, almost hitting a police horse and pedestrian, during the incident on January 21, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Shoaib had been banned from the roads last March over a previous incident of dangerous driving, but after a row at home he stormed out of the house and took his brother’s Toyota vehicle to go for a haircut.

But half an hour before the kick-off in Bradford City’s game against Millwall in January, Mr Demaine tried to print out a parking ticket for the vehicle which had been parked in North Parade.

A judge at Bradford Crown Court was shown footage taken by an on-looker of Shoaib behaving aggressively and eventually throwing a punch which missed the warden.

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Another piece of CCTV footage also showed Shoaib driving off and narrowly missing a police officer on horseback and a male pedestrian.

After the case, Councillor Abdul Jabar, Bradford Council’s executive member for neighbourhoods and community Safety, said: “We will not tolerate anyone attacking or behaving aggressively towards our Council wardens as they go about their professional duties.

“Members of the public should treat the wardens with the respect they deserve and any motorist using violence or abuse after being caught parking illegally will face prosecution.

“We are glad the courts treat these matters as seriously as we do.”

During Shoaib’s sentencing hearing, prosecutor Andrew Horton said Mr Demaine, 33, was with a female colleague and had been trying to take photographic evidence as Shoaib tried to start the Toyota.

Mr Demaine described how he had to move on to the pavement after Shoaib had allowed the vehicle to roll forward into his legs. During the confrontation Shoaib grabbed the printed ticket from the warden and ripped it up before swinging a punch at Mr Demaine.

Shoaib, of Clarendon Court, Manningham, pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault.

He also admitted a further allegation of dangerous driving in relation to way he drove off as well as driving while disqualified and without insurance.

In March last year, Shoaib was sentenced to four months in jail, suspended for a year, for an incident of dangerous driving involving a police chase in the early hours.

Judge Colin Burn said Shoaib had acted like a hooligan towards the traffic warden and added: “It’s difficult to think of circumstances where it’s possible to cause more mayhem out of such a minor incident than you did.”

The judge said Shoaib should never have been in the car to start with and he had “turned nasty” when the warden, who was simply doing his job, tried to issue him with a ticket.

He added: “It can’t be said too often really that traffic wardens have a difficult enough job dealing with aggressive and mouthy motorists without having motorists trying to take a swing at them, as happened on the day in question.”

The judge said it got worse for Shoaib because he drove off at some speed narrowly missing the police horse.

Judge Burn noted that if the pedestrian had been looking the wrong way or been less mobile, the Toyota would have hit him and the consequences could have been horrendous.

Barrister Andrew Dallas, mitigating for Shoaib, submitted testimonials on behalf of his client and highlighted his remorse. He said there was not a hint of violence in his record and it had been a brief example of dangerous driving.

But Judge Burn said he could not deal with the case in any way other than an immediate prison sentence.

The judge activated two months from the previous suspended sentence and added three months for the latest offences, jailing him for a total of five months. Shoaib was also banned from driving for 14-and-a-half months and ordered to take an extended re-test before lawfully driving again.

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