A52 road rage incident sees punches thrown and man driven into

A shunt at a busy roundabout ended in a road rage incident which saw punches being thrown and a dad-of-three driving into another man as he tried to get away. Nottingham Crown Court heard how Jayce Lings then overtook six vehicles on a blind bend as he fled from the incident near Long Eaton [1] before being found in his VW in a supermarket car park in Stapleford [2]. When he was arrested there, the 29-year-old, of Sandiacre, admitted he had been drinking but passed a drink-drive test.

Now he has been inside a courtroom for the first time in his life where footage of the incident has saved him from an immediate prison term. Handing him a 12-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, Judge Mark Watson said: "Following the collision, the victim got out of the car to remonstrate with you and could see two cans of alcohol in the car and could smell it on your breath and so asked his wife to call the police [3]. "He started to take photos and you became aggressive, getting out of your car to confront him.

You threw a few punches towards him which I accept did not connect but there was some struggling and grappling with him, you got back in your car and I accept, having viewed the footage, you clipped him. I make it clear now that if I felt you deliberately did that you would be going immediately to custody. "But I accept you were trying to get away from the situation.

It was a highly dangerous manoeuvre because a pedestrian was in front of your car. "But consider yourself lucky because that footage which was taken has saved you. If you come back another time, bring a bag with you."

Laura Hocknell, prosecuting, said the incident took place at the roundabout where the M1 meets the A52, near Long Eaton, on July 23, last year. She said the victim was in his car with his wife, daughter and mother-in-law when it was shunted from behind by a Volkswagen Golf being driven by Lings. The prosecutor said the man whose car was struck got out of the car, saw the beer cans and started to take photographs of the damage and to exchange details.

Miss Hocknell said: "He saw the beer cans and smelled alcohol on his breath and said to his wife 'call the police, this guy has been drinking' and the defendant said 'you are not taking any photos of my car' and grabbed the victim and threw some punches. "The victim dropped his phone and the defendant got in his car to do a three-point turn to leave and as he did so struck the victim with the car. A witness then saw the defendant's car leave and followed him and described how it overtook six other vehicles on a blind bend."

The prosecutor said the car was found with the defendant in it in a car park at a Sainsbury's Local in Stapleford and he was arrested. A test saw him pass a drink-drive test. Lings, of Norbury Way, Sandiacre, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and assault by beating and has no previous convictions of any kind.

Amelia Trem, mitigating, said her self-employed client has three children, one with his current partner and two who he "does not see but wants regular contact with". She said: "This is his first encounter with a court and he will undoubtedly not trouble the courts again. It has had a sobering impact on him.

It undoubtedly was a dangerous manoeuvre and he continued down the road after it happened. But it was not a deliberate impact and instead was him trying to avoid hitting the complainant." As part of the suspended sentence order, the judge ordered the defendant to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and to attend 15 rehabilitation sessions with the probation service.

He also disqualified him from driving for a year and ordered him to pay GBP600 towards the prosecution's costs.

References

^ Long Eaton (www.nottinghampost.com)
^ Stapleford (www.nottinghampost.com)
^ police (www.nottinghampost.com)