Man tried to kidnap estranged wife at The Broadway

A judge was shown CCTV footage from The Broadway shopping centre complex which captured Varinder Singh strangling his victim into a state of semi-consciousness before manhandling her into the back of his vehicle. Another clip from the car park exit then showed the complainant managing to get out of the rear door of the vehicle before Singh deliberately drove at her.

Recorder Bryan Cox KC said it was pure good fortune that the complainant didn't suffer any serious physical injuries despite being struck by the large car. Singh, 28, of Bankfield Road, Tipton, West Midlands, was detained at the scene by a group of young males who came to the aid of the complainant.

'He's capable of anything - I'm not safe'

In her victim impact statement, the woman described how she kept having flashbacks of the car "running over me" and said she had suffered an injury to her knee as a result of the impact. She said she was in fear because Singh had not been deterred by the fact they were in a public place.

"This shows he is capable of anything and I'm not safe," she said in her statement. Bradford Crown Court heard that the married couple had been separated, but agreed to meet up to discuss the formalities of their divorce. Prosecutor Ella Embleton said the meeting seemed amicable at first, but the woman became upset after Singh took her mobile phone and refused to give it back.

Miss Embleton said the footage showed Singh strangling the woman at the rear of his parked car before putting her in a semi-conscious state into the rear passenger seat. Singh, who had no previous convictions, answered "no comment" during his police interview, but he subsequently pleaded to charges of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent, kidnap, and assault in relation to the incident on August 13 this year. He also admitted a further assault and a criminal damage charge dating back to November last year.

What was Singh sentenced to?

Today Recorder Bryan Cox KC sentenced Singh to a total of six years in jail and imposed an indefinite restraining order which bans him from contacting the complainant.

Barrister Ayman Khokhar, for Singh, said his client had difficulty handling the breakdown of the marriage. "He appreciates it is a matter of good fortune that his emotional meltdown in that car park did not result in more serious consequences for the complainant," conceded Mr Khokhar. He explained that Singh wanted to return to his family in India and would now face deportation due to the length of his prison sentence.

Mr Khokhar said Singh had described going through "mental torture" at the time and said the meeting had been a recipe for disaster. He said his client had tried to convince the complainant to give the marriage another go, but he lost his patience and his sense of self-control. "He did not know he was capable of behaving in such a way until it was too late," said Mr Khokhar.

'You sought to control and dominate your wife'

Recorder Cox dismissed any suggestion that the offending had been a crime of passion and he told Singh : "The reality is that this was serious violence committed in the context of a relationship in which you sought to control and dominate your wife.

"It is self-evident from what you did and indeed from your victim's statement that these offences will have a lasting and profound effect upon her." He said the attempted inflicting grievous bodily harm was very serious indeed. "The CCTV shows you driving your motor car at your victim at some speed.

You plainly intended to inflict serious injury," he told Singh.

"It is a matter of pure good fortune that you did not cause much greater physical injuries."

As part of the sentence, Singh was also banned from driving for six years and told to take an extended retest.