A MAN who mowed down a keen rugby player with his car during a violent gang battle has been jailed for 12 years.
Mohsen Sadiq was one of a group of Iraqi Kurds who attacked pub-goers with sticks and knives after a row erupted over insults made to a white woman.
Sadiq, 29, was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm after he ploughed his Honda Civic into amateur league player Lee Massey, 31, causing him serious head and leg injuries.
But the cruel attacker showed no remorse for his victim, who still suffers long-term damage, claiming "that's his problem".
The violent onslaught was thought to be in revenge for an earlier fight started when an Iraqi made derogatory comments to a local woman.
But Sadiq was the only person convicted despite a massive police investigation and two trials, thought to have cost the taxpayer £5m.
During a 40-day hearing nine other Iraqi Kurds were cleared of any involvement.
The violence outside the Royal pub, in Huddersfield Road, Ravensthorpe, left two other men, Darren and Danny Lee, with serious stab wounds.
Residents reacted furiously to the attack and the victims' friends - including white and Asian residents - collected a 1,000-name petition calling on the authorities to stop sending asylum seekers to Dewsbury.
There was relief and joy from Mr Massey's family when Sadiq, of Dewsbury, was convicted.
The rugby player has been unable to work since the attack and suffered stress leading to the break-up of his marriage.
Judge Alistair McCallum, jailing Sadiq for 12 years, labelled him "callous and wicked" for a crime "as close to attempted murder as one could come".
The judge told him: "You intended to cause Lee Massey really serious injuries and you certainly achieved your goal.
"Out of respect for his relatives I shall not catalogue his appalling injuries... but you have totally ruined his future, permanently leaving him completely incapable of enjoying a normal life, and destroying his marriage."
Judge McCallum said Sadiq's response on being told of Mr Massey's injuries showed a "lack of humanity I have not encountered in the many people who have come before me".
He said: "I wish I could pass a higher sentence for this heinous crime but I am bound by precedent."
Sadiq, who was granted temporary permission to stay in the UK after his asylum claim was rejected, may be deported back to Iraq on his release from jail.
