Yahoo News Van rammed three times in road rage crash in Grimsby
A motorist repeatedly rammed his Vauxhall Insignia into a van after a fit of road rage when his car was hit with a brick thrown by someone in the van, a court heard.
Zane French drove at 70mph on Willingham Street, Grimsby which has a 30mph limit before crashing into the van which then damaged five other vehicles costing thousands of pounds worth of damage.
At Grimsby Crown Court, French, of Heneage Road, admitted an offence of dangerous driving committed on Sunday, January 29, last year. Prosecuting, Neil Coxon said a witness heard men shouting loudly in the street where two men from a white Transit van confronted French.
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He returned to his Vauxhall and left the scene at speed. As he did so one of the men from the van lobbed a brick at his car. The driver then went around the block and returned to Willingham Street where he rammed the van three times. Witnesses described the car's speed as "significant" and "travelling at ridiculous speed." The force pushed the van into other cars.
Mr Coxon said a police investigation had not identified the two men in the van. The five other cars damaged were a Ford, a Nissan, a Vauxhall Corsa, a Citroen and a Combo van.
A man in the Corsa had been pulling out of a drive when the van was shunted into his car The driver said he had to take a week off work due to whiplash injuries and said he was left shaken. The Combo van driver said the damage to his vehicle amounted to £3,600. The Nissan Qashqai suffered damage amounting to £6,500 and was written off.
In police interview, French told police he had issues with prescribed medication. He told officers he felt he had been bullied and responded to it.
Judge John Thackray KC said: "Thankfully no one was seriously injured. He needs to learn to turn the other cheek." For French, Craig Lowe said his client was on the wrong mental health medication. "He is now a calm and measured individual."
Sentencing the driver, Judge Thackray KC said: "You were seriously provoked. Rather than call the police, you took the law into your own hands and were driving at excessive speed and caused damage.
"Imagine if a child had stepped out. You would have been looking at 10 years (in prison) for causing death by dangerous driving." He imposed a 13-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. He ordered an 18-month community order to include 20 Rehabilitation Activity days and a three-month electronically-tagged curfew from 9pm to 6am. He banned French from driving for 12 months and ordered an extended retest.
