LOVE ROW
Dramatic moment man mows down love rival before battering him with baseball bat – then leads cops on rooftop chase
THIS is the dramatic moment a man mowed down his love rival before battering him with a baseball bat.
Zaki Idris, 29, was jailed for stalking his victim and planning the ambush after leading police on a rooftop chase.
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On the night of the attack in January this year, Idris waited in a black Citroen C4 for his 35-year-old victim to leave the Underground Gym in Portslade, East .
He drove his car into the victim at such speed that he was thrown across the bonnet and windscreen.
Idris then got out the car and hit his victim repeatedly with a baseball bat while threatening to kill him.
The victim managed to get back inside the gym as members of the public began to chase Idris.
Police officers joined the chase through gardens and onto the roof of a house where a stand-off commenced.
But Idris made a bolt for it and a chase across rooftops began.
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Idris was finally cornered in a neighbouring garden before being taken into custody.
Police searched his car and found a claw hammer and a knife.
Detectives investigating the attack tried to unveil a link between Idris and his victim and discovered Idris had attempted to break into his ex-partner's house after noticing the victim's car parked outside.
Idris was removed from the scene without laying eyes on his victim in person.
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However, later on pictures of the victim's car and registration number were discovered on his mobile phone.
After the car attack police found that Idris had been caught on police cameras near the victim's car several times in the month running up to the attack.
The last time was in the hour before he intentionally crashed into his victim.
After being charged with attempted grievous bodily harm, dangerous driving, making threats to kill and possession of an offensive weapon Idris was detained under the Mental Health Act.
Idris, of Brighton, East Sussex, pleaded guilty to all charges at Lewes Crown Court in June.
But he denied it was a pre-meditated attack, claiming he stumbled across his victim by chance that day.
However, a hearing at the same court yesterday ruled that Idris laid in wait for his victim to appear, and the attack was planned.
He was sentenced to four years and two months in prison, and issued with a five-year restraining order.
Detective Constable Josh Bellamy, of Sussex Police, said: "This was a violent, pre-meditated attack on a man who was, to all intents and purposes, a stranger to Zaki Idris.
"It is truly miraculous that the victim was not left severely injured or worse.
"Idris then led officers on a chase through gardens and onto rooftops, putting the safety of those officers and members of the public at risk."
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DC Bellamy added: "Thanks to the work of neighbourhood policing officers who were first on the scene, what could have been seen as an accidental collision was exposed as an attempt to severely injure an innocent man.
"As a result of the ensuing, complex investigation, a dangerous individual has been brought to justice."
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