THE FAMILY of a West Midlands traffic Police Officer who was badly injured when he was run over by a hijacked police car have thanked those who sent messages following the attack.
PC Gareth Phillips remains in intensive care where his condition is said to be stable.
The 42-year-old was allegedly knocked down and driven over while trying to arrest suspected car thief former Hall Green resident Mubashar Hussain at around 4.45pm on Saturday (August 10) in Moseley.
The 29-year-old appeared at Birmingham Magistrates Court today (August 12) charged with the attempted murder of PC Phillips.
He also faces charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, a separate count of dangerous driving, wounding another officer who suffered a cut arm, four counts of assaulting other PCs, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance, two car thefts and an aggravated vehicle taking relating to a police BMW.
The car thefts relate to the Range Rover Sport taken on Saturday and another Range Rover stolen in Birmingham the previous day.
In a statement PC Phillips’ family said: “We are grateful for all the messages of support that we’ve had from the police and members of the public.
“Gareth is still very poorly and faces a long battle to recover.
“What happened on Saturday demonstrates the dangers that officers face every day.
“We’d ask for people to respect our privacy now while we as a family support Gareth over the weeks and months ahead.”
A second man, 24-year-old Ahsan Ghafoor, of no fixed address, has been charged with the same two car thefts, plus dangerous driving and other motoring offences.
Both were remanded in custody to appear before Birmingham Crown Court on September 9.
