Sheffield man’s sledgehammer rampage in city centre rush hour

A Sheffield man went on a terrifying city centre rampage when he attacked a bus with a sledgehammer and rammed other drivers out of the way in his car, a jury has heard.
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Arshad Mohammed drove his black Kia Sedona people-carrier up the wrong side of London Road, overtaking other cars at speed, before stopping in front of a Number 43 bus, and jumping out with a long-handled sledgehammer, prosecutor Carl Fitch said.

Mohammed boarded the bus and swung the sledgehammer to smash a glass panel, then took a fire extinguisher back to his car, at 2.45pm, on Friday, July 19, last year.

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"Shouting and ranting," Mohammed began swinging at a side window, "making two bull's-eye type smashes" before shattering it. He shouted racist abuse at the driver.

RTA on Abbeydale Road at the junction with Chippinghouse Road. Picture: Marie Caley NSST-19-07-19-ChippinghouseRd-1RTA on Abbeydale Road at the junction with Chippinghouse Road. Picture: Marie Caley NSST-19-07-19-ChippinghouseRd-1
RTA on Abbeydale Road at the junction with Chippinghouse Road. Picture: Marie Caley NSST-19-07-19-ChippinghouseRd-1

He then got back in his car and pulled level with the bus, which was stuck in rush-hour traffic, smashing a side window with the hammer and showering the driver in glass, Mr Fitch told Sheffield Crown Court, on Wednesday,

In a statement, the driver, who has 42 years of experience, said: "It was out of the blue - it was surreal. I thought :"Where is he going with this? Is he going to kill me?" It was a vicious and unprovoked attack."

Minutes later, on Abbeydale Road, a trainee driving instructor in a Citroen Cactus was hit "head-on" when Mohammed reversed into him from Chippinghouse Road.

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"He got out and was waving a sledgehammer," the witness said in a statement. "He reversed and I had to run to get out of the way. He reversed the whole way down Abbeydale Road.

Arshad Mohammed was up in court today.Arshad Mohammed was up in court today.
Arshad Mohammed was up in court today.

"There were lots of cars on the road because it was school pick-up time. He looked like he was on drugs."

A third victim, who was visiting the city for the Tramlines Festival, saw him approach "stopping and starting and then reversing."

He crashed into her white Toyota Yaris on the driver’s side and forced the vehicle out of the way on Abbeydale Road, before driving off at speed.

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The court heard an "abusive and aggressive" Mohammed was bitten by a police dog when he was arrested, and had to be taken to hospital.

Arshad Mohammed was up in court today.Arshad Mohammed was up in court today.
Arshad Mohammed was up in court today.

The 50-year-old, of Sandford Grove Road, Nether Edge, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to affray, possessing a sledgehammer and theft of a fire extinguisher, on Tuesday, but denied dangerous driving and driving while disqualified. He was banned from driving for four years, in August 2018.

Judge David Dixon ruled that Mohammed's refusal to leave his cell for the trial on Wednesday was "a deliberate attempt by him to prevent the case from taking place" and "it was entirely right to try the case in his absence."

Ian West, for Mohammed told the jury "there is nothing to say to challenge the prosecution," but reminded them that it was for the prosecution to prove the facts of the case.

Mohammed is due to be sentenced tomorrow.