Jail for man who crashed into Cambridgeshire business in revenge attack

A man who reported his work van as stolen after deliberately crashing it into a business in a revenge attack has been jailed.

Zoraise Ashraf, 29, called police at about 8.30am on 30 December 2020 to report his work van, a white Peugeot Boxer, had been stolen overnight from outside his home in Brampton Road, Huntingdon.

However, police were already in possession of the van after it had crashed into a business premises in nearby George Street at about 9.40pm the previous day.

Officers had found the crashed van abandoned and after making enquiries, they became aware of Ashraf’s call reporting it as stolen.

Ashraf re-iterated the claim when contacted by officers but CCTV footage contradicted his account.

At about 5.20pm on 29 December, he was seen parking the van outside his home and then driving off again at about 8.10pm.

At about 10pm, he was seen walking back inside his house without the van after crashing it into the business.

Police said that Ashraf’s family had been working with the business for more than 20 years but this ended on bad terms in November 2020 after a relative had been dismissed as a client.

In total, Ashraf caused more than £25,000 of damage to the business and van.

Last week, at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court sitting as a crown court, Ashraf, of Brampton Road, Huntingdon, was jailed for eight months, having pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and two counts of criminal damage.

He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.