Businessman who drove into boys in 4x4 is spared jail
ABUSINESSMAN hunted down three boys he thought had been playing with his boat and deliberately drove his car at them as they walked along a pavement.
Adrian Bowen hit two of the boys with his SUV, sending one rolling onto the bonnet of his vehicle before falling to the floor.
The children ran off – but one of them was so frightened by the incident he hid in a nearby ditch as he thought the defendant was still in the area looking for them.
Bowen denied colliding with the youngsters, and said he had only gone after them to talk to them and perhaps to perform a citizen’s arrest. He was convicted at trial last month of dangerous driving.
The 46-year-old returned to the dock of Swansea Crown Court on Tuesday to be sentenced.
The court heard the incident took place on July 1, 2020, and began with Bowen looking out of the window of his Mumbles home and noticing three young boys – all aged under 15 – near his dinghy which was on a trailer parked on the private road outside.
One of the boys tripped and fell onto the boat and “pushed” himself off it, which Bowen misinterpreted as the boy rocking the boat on its trailer. The boys saw they were being watched and gave “I didn’t do anything”-type gestures with their arms and shoulders which the defendant interpreted as the youngsters goading him.
The court heard that with that an “enraged” Bowen ran out of the house shouting at the boys, and chased them along the road.
He then returned home, got into his Honda 4x4, and went to look for the boys.
The defendant found the youngsters a short distance away walking along the pavement on Plunch Lane near Mumbles Cricket Club. Bowen then deliberately mounted the kerb and went across the grass verge separating the road from the pavement and drove towards the boys – he hit one of the boys from behind causing him to fall backwards onto the bonnet of his SUV and then onto the floor, and caught another of the boys a glancing blow on the leg with the corner of his vehicle.
One of the boys suffered abrasions on his legs and a tender back in the collision, and the other had a swollen knee.
During his trial Bowen denied he had lost his temper on the day in question, and said he went after the boys because he wanted to talk to them and possibly perform a citizen’s arrest. He denied his vehicle had made contact with the boys at any stage of the incident.
Adrian Bowen, of Michael’s Field, Mumbles, Swansea, was convicted of dangerous driving.
In impact statements read to the court, the youngsters described how shocked and frightened they were by the incident, and said they were still trying to come to terms with it.
Huw Davies, for Bowen, said in a pre-sentence report the defendant had accepted his reaction to the boat incident had been “inappropriate”, and he said in his submission the behaviour seen on the day in question – now 21 months ago – was “completely out of character” for his client.
The barrister said Bowen lived with his long-term partner and daughter in their own home and also had employees who worked for him in his business.
Recorder Aidan Eardley described what Bowen did in July 2020 as a “seriously dangerous manoeuvre”.
He said he accepted the incident had been out of character for the defendant.
The recorder said the offending was so serious it crossed the custody threshold but the pre-sentence report had concluded the defendant posed a low risk of re-offending.
Bowen was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and 50 hours of unpaid work in the community.
He was banned from driving for 12 months, and must pass an extended test before he can get his licence back.