Car owner lied over murder bid case

Two men were injured when a Mercedes E Class ploughed into a group of people outside Willenhall's Workers Rest pub on November 1.

The driver - who has never been charged - had borrowed the car from Suresh Sarmoria the week before the incident, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard. But just hours after the smash, Sarmoria telephoned police and lied that the car had been stolen.

On Thursday, he was handed a suspended prison sentence after admitting perverting the course of justice.

Mr Howard Searle, prosecuting, said the defendant had been instructed to make the false report by the man who drove the car.

Sarmoria, aged 28, was arrested and charged with attempted murder. When he was told that people had been injured outside the pub in Union Street, he gave officers the identity of the driver.

But by the time the police arrested him on November 10, the car had been burned out, destroying any forensic evidence and leaving police unable to build a case.

"By that stage there was insufficient independent evidence to prove that he was driving the vehicle," said Mr Searle.

Following the incident, a 41-year-old man was in a coma for more than 24 hours after suffering serious head and neck injuries and a fracture to his leg. A 25-year-old man was also taken to hospital with cuts and bruises.

Mr Mark Jones, defending, said Sarmoria did not have the confidence to stand up to the man who he had lent the car to. "The individual was only supposed to borrow it for a day or so and my client had been trying to get it back," he said.

"He believed an accident had taken place, rather than a targeted hit and run. Once he realised the serious nature of what had happened he assisted police.

"Unfortunately this meant the police were not able to investigate the case fully at that point. This has clearly been a salutary lesson for him."

Sarmoria, of The Holmes, Fordhouses, Wolverhampton, admitted perverting the course of justice.

He was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and a 12-month supervision order with 180 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £400 costs.

Judge Michael Challinor told the court: "This offence was not planned. It was a spur of the moment reaction to a request, but it set in motion a chain of events that made things difficult for the police.

"Your lies inhibited the proper investigation of these matters."