Driver who rammed two people amid Airbnb row jailed

Johnathan Newbury rammed a man and a teenager with an SUV

A man who deliberately rammed a man and a teenager with an SUV after a row at an Airbnb has been jailed for 10 years.

Johnathan Newbury, 34, sent two pedestrians "into the air" following an altercation at the rental property in the Cathays area of Cardiff in July 2024.

Newbury and another man were acquitted of attempted murder by a jury in March, but Newbury was found guilty of having a blade and inflicting and attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm.

Judge Jeremy Jenkins told Merthyr Crown Court on Monday there had been an "element of revenge in the incident".

Mr Jenkins said the two complainants had booked accommodation at the same Airbnb as Newbury, and there had been an "earlier altercation" between them and a number of men at the address on Bruce Street.

Prosecutor James Wilson said the victims arrived at the Airbnb to find a woman shouting up at one of the windows, with her telling them her boyfriend was inside.

The men inside then began shouting racial abuse at the complainants.

Mr Wilson said CCTV footage showed the two men leaving but later returning.

"Their evidence was that she had told them that the males had left in a car and she warned them that 'they will bonnet you'," he added.

Mr Jenkins said four men were spotted on CCTV getting out of a dark SUV on Bruce Street at about midnight and were "armed with what has been described as a zombie knife and were obviously, from their demeanour, intent on violence".

When Mr Jones and the teenager fled, Newbury and the group got into the SUV to chase them.

"The vehicle is seen to speed up, to drive on the wrong side of the road into the junction and to deliberately collide with the two men, throwing them up in the air and causing serious bodily injury [to the teenager]," he added.

Ryan Jones, one of the victims, received injuries to his pelvis and right foot while the other victim, who was a teenager at the time, lost consciousness on arrival at the hospital, became forgetful and reported pains to his ribs.

Newbury was acquitted of racially aggravated intentional harassment at the trial.

Mr Jenkins said reports showed Newbury had not accepted his guilt and had shown "no remorse at all".

Newbury will spend eight years in jail and two years on extended licence and, once released, he will be banned from driving for two years.