Moment car 'deliberately speeds through a red light straight at women and children in Jewish area' as police arrest man, 49

By JON BRADY, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER and FRAN WOLFISZ Published: 15:20, 20 May 2026 | Updated: 15:20, 20 May 2026 This is the moment a car appears to drive directly at women and children crossing the road at a red light in Britain's second-largest Jewish community - in what locals have called a deliberate and targeted attempt at intimidation. CCTV footage shows the white Mercedes-Benz park around 50 metres before a set of traffic lights on Leicester Road in Salford as a pair of women accompanying three children prepare to cross. When the light turns red, the car rapidly accelerates from a standing start towards the lights, reaching the crossing just a few seconds later as the group steps into the road. While the footage has no sound, one of the women appears to have been alerted to the white saloon's revving engine and rapidly turns on the spot to herd the children back to the kerb. They run back as the Mercedes flies by leaving only a few feet of space - ignoring the red light altogether. The incident took place at 10am on Tuesday on Leicester Road at the heart of the Broughton area. It is home to one of the UK's biggest Haredi Orthodox Jewish communities, and the incident took place directly outside a group of Kosher food shops.  Among the shocked eyewitnesses were what appeared to be members of the Orthodox Jewish community dressed in traditional garb. This is the moment a white Mercedes-Benz drives past a group of women and young children in a prominent Jewish area of Salford - running a red light  The car missed the group by a short distance and continued driving after running the red light One local resident, who is Jewish, told the Daily Mail they were convinced the aggressive driving was intended to scare Jewish families. He said: 'It's horrible - it's absolutely disgusting. You can see they stop down the road before they speed right up. 'This is a residential area but we [Jewish people] are used to it. It's what we've been dealing with for years, for thousands of years.  'People are antagonising us. But we are resilient - Jewish people are resilient.' The matter was reported to police at around 5pm last night. Officers say they have since arrested a 49-year-old man under suspicion of dangerous driving. A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: 'Officers are aware of a video circulating online purporting to show an incident of dangerous driving in Salford. 'An incident of dangerous driving was reported to local officers on Leicester Road at around 5pm on Tuesday 19 May. Thankfully, no one was injured. 'A 49-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving. He remains in police custody at this time. 'This was an isolated incident with no wider threat to the public. 'Incidents such as these will not be tolerated in Greater Manchester and will be fully investigated by our officers.' The car had parked around 50 metres down Leicester Road before driving past at speed - beside a row of kosher shops The Community Safety Trust, the Jewish security charity, said it was assisting police with the investigation. A spokesperson said: 'We are aware of footage from Leicester Road in Greater Manchester which appears to show a vehicle speeding through a red light towards a Jewish family. 'The matter has been reported to the police, and we are assisting with their investigation.  'We understand that a male has been arrested, and we thank the police for their swift response and for taking this matter so seriously.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.