Teenager who drove car at man outside Halifax nightclub avoids prison by a 'whisker'

Maggie's in Halifax town centre
-Credit: (Image: Google)


A teenage driver who was caught on camera running over a nightclubber outside Maggies bar in Halifax last summer has avoided prison by “a whisker."

Bradford Crown Court heard on Friday that Layton Oliver was just 17 when he deliberately drove the Mercedes car into his victim during the early hours of August 5.

Dramatic CCTV footage of the collision was played to the court and appeared to show the victim throwing a plastic traffic cone towards the car before Oliver drove into him.

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The man could then be seen falling underneath the car and prosecutor Ayman Khokhar said the front wheels of the Mercedes went over the complainant before Oliver and his passengers drove away from the scene.

Mr Khokhar said there had been no attempt by Oliver to slow down or avoiding hitting the man and it had been a deliberate attempt to knock him over. The court heard that there had been an earlier exchange between a group of males and Oliver had acted as a “peacemaker” during that confrontation.

After being hit by the car the victim was found to have suffered a broken nose, two broken eye sockets, a broken cheekbone and very bad pain in his ribs. Mr Khokhar said: “However, fortunately, the complainant did make a full recovery from his injuries. These were bad injuries, but the complainant was able to resume his daily activities fairly quickly.”

Bradford Crown Court
Bradford Crown Court -Credit:Yorkshire Live

Oliver, now 18, pleaded guilty to a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. The court heard the dad-of-one, of Malham Road, Brighouse, had also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of threatening to destroy property relating to an incident when he threatened to “blow up” the car belonging to a relative of a former partner.

Barrister David McGonigal, for Oliver, said the victim in the driving offence had tried to assault his client outside the nightclub, but the teenager accepted behaving wrongly and criminally. Mr McGonigal said it had been a very short piece of driving and thankfully the injuries were not as serious as they could have been.

Oliver’s dad gave evidence to the court that his son was more mature now and had a very close relationship with his young child. He said his teenage son was no longer going out drinking and had changed his life around completely.

Mr McGonigal highlighted references which described the voluntary work that Oliver was doing in a garage and the help he provided at a boxing club. He said the references showed a different side to his young client. Mr McGonigal also submitted that there was more to be gained by imposing a community sentence or linking community requirements to a suspended custodial sentence.

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After being remanded in custody for two nights Oliver was brought back to Bradford Crown Court this afternoon and Recorder Cox explained that despite the seriousness of the offences he was just prepared to suspend the 21-month custodial sentence for two years.

In reference to the driving incident the judge said: ”The consequences could have been devastating both for you and more importantly the person concerned. You have come within a whisker of an immediate custodial sentence.”

The judge banned Oliver from driving for the next three years and ordered him to take an extended driving test. Oliver must also comply with a six-month electronically monitored night-time curfew and an alcohol monitoring and abstinence programme for the next 90 days. He must also undertake 200 hours of unpaid work in the community.