Nottingham man jailed two years after 95mph machete car chase in New Basford

Riyan Ahmed, 21, led police on a high-speed pursuit reaching 95mph on a 40mph road before being stopped. A machete was found in the footwell of his car.

Disqualified driver reaches 95mph with machete in footwell before arrest

A 21-year-old Nottingham man has been sentenced to two years in prison after leading police on a high-speed chase through New Basford with a machete concealed in his car, Google News UK — Crime (en) reports.

Officers from the Armed Policing team began following a Volkswagen Polo along Perry Road in the early hours of 7 August 2026 after the vehicle was spotted driving suspiciously. When blue lights were activated, driver Riyan Ahmed, of Glamis Road, Nottingham, failed to stop and accelerated away.

The Polo reached 95mph on Valley Road — a road with a 40mph limit — while travelling on the wrong side of the carriageway. Ahmed's flight ended when the car struck a kerb turning onto the A60 Mansfield Road, damaging a tyre. Pursuing officers used the opportunity to bring the vehicle to a stop, boxing it in at the junction of the A60 and Albemarle Road in Woodthorpe.

When the car was searched, officers found a machete in a sheath in the footwell. Ahmed was disqualified from driving and had no insurance at the time of the pursuit.

He pleaded guilty at Nottingham Crown Court to dangerous driving, possession of a knife in a public place, and driving while disqualified and without insurance. On Tuesday, 1 September, he was jailed for a total of two years.

Police Constable Ryan Bullick, of Nottinghamshire Police, said the incident represented "an appalling display of driving that put the lives of multiple road users in danger." Bullick added that the safe conclusion of the pursuit was down to "the professionalism and training of all the officers and control room staff involved."

The machete recovered from the vehicle was subsequently seized and destroyed.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)