South Yorkshire man ran victim over and attacked him with a stick after mobile phone row

Andrew Brindley felt "short-changed" and "sore" towards the man after a dispute was sparked over repairs to his mobile phone, said prosecutor Alllan Armbrister on Thursday.

Brindley was driving on Tickhill Lane, in the Rotherham area, on April 28, last year, when he swerved, mounted the pavement and hit the man, as he was walking along with his teenage daughter.

He jumped out of the vehicle and began raining blows down upon the man with the stick. His victim got up and tried to flee and Brindley chased him.

The court heard that Brindley's victim "miraculously" escaped serious injury, and only sustained bruising and one small cut in the 45-second attack.

Dermot Hughes, mitigating, said it was a “pretty strange turn of events” that were “almost exclusively of his own making.”

He said the incident represented “a sudden and momentary loss of control,” was “relatively spontaneous” and “out of character for him.” His victim didn’t require medical attention.

“There is genuine remorse and he accepts his behaviour was wholly unacceptable,” Mr Hughes said, describing him as a family man who cares for his children.

“He is a decent man who made a terrible mistake,” he said.

Brindley, 54, of St Withold Avenue, Thurcroft, Rotherham, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Judge David Dixon said the dispute arose because his victim had offered to fix his mobile phone and there was an argument about whether it was repaired properly.

The judge said the offences were aggravated because his victim’s daughter “had to watch her father being assaulted by a thug like you.”

He said Brindley’s driving was "horrific,” adding: “You intended to cause much more serious harm than that. It seems as though you lost control.

"Something happened here and you flipped. There must be a prison term.”

On Wednesday, he ordered Brindley to serve 22 months in prison, and also banned him from driving for three years and nine months. He must not drive again until he takes an extended re-test.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

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