Driver told passengers 'to run' before fatal crash

A driver who was being followed by police told his passengers to "jump out of the car and run" moments before he crashed into a tree and suffered fatal injuries, an inquest has heard.

Muhammad Qasim, 29, was captured speaking on an 18-second video taken by back seat passenger Mohammed Ibrahim before the crash on Island Road, Handsworth, in the early hours of 2 October 2023.

Mr Qasim died in hospital after suffering "catastrophic head injuries".

The BMW had been followed by PC Paul Withers, of West Midlands Police, who denied he was in pursuit of the vehicle, which he said had been travelling "easily double" the 30mph speed limit.

He told the inquest at Birmingham Coroner's Court that he had been carrying out intelligence checks on the car and did not know if Mr Qasim was aware he was following him because his manner of driving did not change and the officer did not have his blue lights on.

But on Friday, Mr Ibrahim said Mr Qasim had been aware of the police car and sped up as he drove "loops" around Island Road.

In the video, shown to jurors, Mr Qasim could be heard telling his passengers to "jump out of the car and run".

Mr Ibrahim could then be heard telling him to "chill", which he said was him trying to tell the driver to slow down, with Mr Qasim telling him to "shut up".

Mr Ibrahim, who was severely injured in the crash, said he did not see Mr Qasim drinking alcohol or smoking, but the inquest previously heard the driver had been was one-and-a-half times over the drink-drive limit, had recently smoked cannabis, and was not wearing a seatbelt.

He said he started filming because he had earlier been stopped and searched.

Front seat passenger Ria Garcha, picked up by Mr Qasim the previous evening, said the pair had been drinking and he had empty vodka bottles in his car he wanted to get rid of.

She said: "When we first saw the police, the boy [Mr Ibrahim] said, 'oh there's the police' and he put his foot down and went faster.

"I was telling him to slow down, they weren't coming.

"They were telling me to shut up. I couldn't seen any lights or sirens behind us.

"A couple of minutes later the boy said the police were there again."

Ms Garcha told the inquest Mr Qasim said he "wanted to pull over and run", adding he "told us to be ready".

She said he "drove really fast" before crashing into the tree.

Independent expert Jonathan Little, Staffordshire Police chief driving instructor, said he had "no criticism" of PC Withers's driving.

He and Paul Trowman, chief driving instructor for West Midlands Police, agreed the collision, on the balance of probability, would have happened regardless of the officer's actions.

Both agreed the crash was a combination of speed, alcohol and drugs.

Mr Trowman did not train PC Withers but said that he had initial training in 2009 and refresher training in 2015 and 2020.

The inquest continues.

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