Dad who ‘used his car as a weapon’ is sent to prison
A DAD “used his car as a weapon” and deliberately drove at a man who he believed had mistreated his daughter.
Ian Craig – who has 116 previous offences on his record – twice tried to run down his victim after a chance encounter on a residential street.
Sending the 54-year-old to prison, a judge told him that whatever the issues between the two men, the defendant’s behaviour had been unacceptable.
Brian Simpson, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court the incident happened on the evening of July 30 last year in Morriston when Craig “deliberately decided to use his car as a weapon”.
The court heard that at around 7.30pm witnesses saw the occupants of a Vauxhall Zafira arguing with a pedestrian walking down Morfydd Street towards the church in the middle of the road.
The driver of the people-carrier – defendant Craig – could be heard shouting allegations about the man’s behaviour towards his daughter, accompanied by threats to kill. With that, the Vauxhall suddenly swerved to the right, mounted the pavement and drove towards the pedestrian, who was just able to avoid the oncoming vehicle.
The defendant and two of his passengers got out of the Zafira and confronted the man, while a number of passers-by and residents of the street tried to calm the situation. The pedestrian at the centre of the incident began walking back up Morfydd Street away from the group, whereupon Craig and his passengers got back into their car, turned around and went after him. Again Craig drove at his victim – hitting a parked car as he did so – and again the pedestrian was forced to jump out of the way.
The court heard that police were called but the victim did not make a complaint about the incident. Craig was arrested the following day and gave “no comment” answers in interview.
Ian Hobart Craig, of Lon Olchfa, Sketty Park, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 29 previous convictions for 116 offences including handling stolen goods, driving with excess alcohol, driving while disqualified, possession of drugs, possession of a bladed article, trademark matters and multiple arsons. In November 2021 he was given a community order with mental health and alcohol treatment requirements after bring convicted of driving with excess alcohol and failing to give a sample of blood for testing. This incident had seen the defendant driving on to a pavement to get around a police roadblock – when stopped by officers he was found to be smelling of cannabis and alcohol and with empty beer cans in the driver’s footwell.
Jon Tarrant, for Craig, said the Morriston incident had followed a chance sighting of the victim on the street and had come at a time when Craig and his family were in a “highly emotional state”. He said it would be “unrealistic” to claim that the defendant was completely remorseful for his actions, as he “still has concerns about the behaviour of some people”.
The advocate said the defendant been a “persistent offender” throughout the 1980s, 1990s and into the early 2000s before his rate of offending “slowed down considerably”. He said his client had been candid enough to say he had not feared prison as a young man but now, with maturity and following illness and the loss of a leg, he was “petrified” at the thought of going back into custody.
Judge Paul Thomas QC said on the evening in question it seemed Craig had encountered a man against whom he held – and still holds – a grudge. He said whatever the rights and wrongs of the issues between the parties, the defendant had acted in an extremely dangerous way. The judge said he was mindful that no actual injuries had been caused and that the charge was one of attempted GBH – though it had been a “near-miss”.
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas, Craig was sentenced to a total of 18 months in prison comprising 18 months for the attempted GBH and nine months for dangerous driving to run concurrently. The judge revoked the previously imposed community order for drink-driving and re-sentenced Craig to one month in prison for that matter to be served concurrently with the 18 months.
The defendant will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. He was banned from driving for two years and the period of disqualification was extended by an extra nine months to account for the time he will be behind bars.