A top lawyer whose car was wrongly targeted in a bungled police sting says he will make a formal complaint after the incident - which left his son 'traumatised.'
Nazir Afzal, who is a chancellor at the University of Manchester, had been driving his son home from a late shift in Wythenshawe at 11.30pm on Sunday (July 9) when police deployed a stinger on his 4X4 vehicle.
Greater Manchester Police said the mistake was made after an 'incorrect' report of a stolen car. Mr Afzal said officers told him a vehicle with a similar number plate had been reported as stolen in the West Midlands area, but one of the digits had been entered incorrectly.
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He claims officers offered to replace his tyres, which were deflated by the stinger, but that didn't detract from the 'shock' of the blunder, which 'traumatised' his 23-year-old son.
The former North West chief prosecutor told BBC's North West programme that he plans to make a formal complaint over the error.
"I didn't know what was going on," he said. "The car stopped, and I realised there was an unmarked police car in front of us and another police car behind us."
Mr Afzal said he told his son to keep his hands visible and stay in the car as officers approached the vehicle. But it didn't take them long to realise their mistake.
"I opened the door and one of the officers immediately said: 'I know who you are'," he explained. "They obviously worked out quite quickly that this wasn't a stolen vehicle, and also who was driving it."
Mr Afzal said the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers offered to replace his tyres but well after midnight realised they couldn't get hold of the correct ones until the next day. He said they were 'really respectful' but the incident had 'destroyed' his sleep and left he and his wife without a car for the morning.
"There will have to be a conversation about what happened," he added.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: "At around 11.25pm on Sunday 9 July, officers from the Roads Policing Unit responding to intelligence from another force deployed a stinger device near Wythenshawe.
"A vehicle was brought to a safe stop, but enquires revealed the information provided was incorrect. Arrangements were made to recover both the driver and the vehicle, in addition to the replacement of the four tyres."
West Midlands Police has been contacted for comment.
