Driver 'tried to stop fight' with car in Newport

A man accused of deliberately running people over after a night out was trying to "stop a fight," a court has heard.

McCauley Cox, 19, allegedly drove his car at a man on Cambrian Road in Newport in the early hours of 29 April, but hit two women instead.

One woman suffered a split spleen, while the other was left with tyre marks and friction burns on her skin.

Mr Cox denies two counts of grievous bodily harm.

Newport Crown Court heard his car was surrounded by people outside The Courtyard nightclub in the early hours of 29 April this year.

Nicholas Gedge, defending, asked Mr Cox why he had driven forwards on the busy street.

Two women were injured outside The Courtyard nightclub in Newport

Mr Cox replied: "To drive the car towards the crowd and hopefully they would look and get out of the way."

He added he was "scared" of the crowd hitting his car after a stabbing in the city two weeks earlier, and drove off not realising he had run anyone over.

"I drove the car forward then it hit a bump, like it was stuck on top of something and I couldn't move forward," he told the court.

"I was scared, I knew they was desperate to get in the car. People were hitting the windscreen then it cracked.

"I couldn't see clearly out of the front of my windscreen. I was just so scared, I just needed to go."

Later on the morning of the incident, the car was found "engulfed in fire" in another part of the city by police and Mr Cox was found in an attic of a property.

The trial continues.