Man jailed for helping friend avoid car offence

Atique Khan pleaded guilty to conspiring to pervert the course of justice

A man has been jailed for more than two years after he attempted to help a friend avoid prosecution for a traffic offence.

Atique Khan, 44, of Grantham Terrace in Bradford, was sentenced to 26 months in prison at Bradford Crown Court on Thursday 5 December.

He pleaded guilty to conspiring to pervert the course of justice in relation to an offence committed by his friend Kashif Khan.

Kashif Khan gave false details to police when he was sent a Notice of Intended Prosecution after a car registered to him was captured on dashcam driving through a red light on the A650 Keighley Road on the morning of 25 July 2021.

The details provided by Kashif Khan were found to have been previously used by others attempting to avoid similar prosecutions and were linked to Atique Khan.

Kashif Khan was asked more about the offence and said he had taken the car into a garage in Halifax the day before for required maintenance and had not collected it until three days later.

He provided details of the garage which was found not to exist at the address given and was also found to be linked to Atique Khan.

Both men were arrested and Kashif Khan's mobile phone was seized, which showed that he and Atique Khan had discussed how to avoid prosecution for the offence.

Kashif Khan, 30, of Durham Road, Bradford, received an 18-month sentence which was suspended for two years.

Speaking after sentencing, Rachel Wainwright of West Yorkshire Police's Prosecutions and Casualty Prevention Unit, said: "Perverting the cause of justice is a serious offence and I hope this outcome sends out a clear message that we will thoroughly investigate matters where people are suspected of interfering with legal processes."

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