'Astonishing and appalling' moment van chased down and attacked

The astonishing moment a group of men in a BMW chased a van along the A55 in north Wales before attacking the vehicle was caught on camera. They even got out in the middle of a busy carriageway to kick the van after blocking its path and throwing items after a row that started over claims the driver had gone over a man's foot.

Caernarfon Crown Court was shown the footage as four men involved were sentenced in connection with the incident. The court heard the incident happened in September last year, and the judge called it a "prolonged, persistent and deliberate course of very bad driving".

It was claimed that the chase and attack started after van driver Sean Powell was accused of driving over the foot of one of the men in the BMW. That car was being driven by Ali Najam, 26, and his passengers were Said Sadat, Pedro Bergantim and Demi Ward.

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The video, recorded by an unspecified person in a vehicle behind, shows the black BMW actually stopping on the westbound carriageway of the A55 four times. The occupants throw items including a plastic water bottle and one carries a metal bar, while another kicks the van.

Ali Najam, 26, of Brecon Towers, Blackberry Lane, Brinnington, Stockport, (right), and Said Sadat, 23, of Tamworth Street, Oldham, approach a van on the A55 near Colwyn Bay. (Crown Prosecution Service)

Eventually, Mr Powell drives off and exits the A55 at the Black Cat roundabout near the Glan Conwy Corner. The BMW was followed to the Great Orme and police arrested the driver and three passengers.

Najam, of Blackberry Lane, Brinnington, Stockport, was jailed for 22 months for affray and 15 months concurrent for dangerous driving. Sadat, 23, of Tamworth Street, Oldham, was jailed for 18 months for affray.

Bergantim, 22, of Taunton Road, Ashton under Lyne, and Demi Ward, 21, of Sandstone Way, Manchester, were given suspended sentences for affray. On Monday, prosecutor Richard Edwards had said that the nature of the incident had been "terrifying" for Mr Powell. The judge His Honour Timothy Petts told the defendants it had been an "astonishing and appalling" incident.

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