Jail for North Yorkshire man who ran woman down in car

Jack David Brown admitted careless driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and breaching a restraining order

A driver who deliberately knocked down a woman in his car, leaving her with a broken back, has been jailed.

Jack David Brown, 27, of Hunton, North Yorkshire, drove at the woman who had stepped into the road to protect three children on ponies, a court heard.

He admitted careless driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and breaching a restraining order.

At Teesside Crown Court on Wednesday, he was jailed for two years and eight months and given a 10-year driving ban.

The incident took place at about 15:00 GMT on Saturday 15 January 2022 on Leyburn Road in Hunton, the court had been told

The victim, a woman in her 50s, was walking at the rear of a group of children riding ponies when Brown approached noisily at speed in his new pick-up truck, police said.

'Aggressive and dangerous'

Fearing the animals would be spooked, the woman waved her arms to warn Brown to slow down and she stepped slightly out into the road.

However, Brown then turned his vehicle towards the victim, hitting her and knocking her down, before continuing on to his home without stopping.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said the woman had been taken to hospital where she was treated for a broken vertebra.

Despite claiming the victim had "thrown herself" at his vehicle, police said Brown changed his plea to guilty before a trial was due to get under way.

Speaking after Brown's sentencing, PC Mike McVay, from North Yorkshire Police, said: "Brown's aggressive and dangerous driving caused serious injury to the victim.

"He also could so easily have placed the three children, the ponies and the other person who was with the group, at great risk of injury or worse."

Brown's driving licence was a privilege that had "rightly been taken away" from him, PC McVay added.