CCTV footage shows the horrific moment a driver deliberately crashed into a group of people gathered outside a pub on a Saturday night last year. Gavin Chesterman, 31, from Pontypool, Wales, was jailed for 40 months for the incident which took place on January 29 last year, WalesOnline reports. Disturbing footage from a nearby video camera caught the moment Chesterman sped into the pub’s beer garden and crashed into a group of people.
The incident was sparked after Chesterman was kicked out of the Royal Oak pub in Pontypool, for fighting.
The infuriated driver took his anger out on the pub by plowing his car through the pub’s beer garden.
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured as a result of the collision, but one victim, a woman later named as Lauren Bull, was hit from behind and ended up under the wheels of the car.
He told the police later that his intended target was a man whom he had fought with earlier in the evening – but the man managed to avoid the speeding car.
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The CCTV clip shows the Chesterman’s Vauxhall Astra mounting a table before coming to a stop while people rushed to the aid of the injured woman.
Other pub dwellers can be seen running to remove Chesterman from his car.
He appeared to be trying to reverse his car as he revved his vehicle’s engine.
However, the driver then decided to run from the scene and was later arrested by Gwent Police.
He later pleaded guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and dangerous driving.
Chesterman was sentenced to 40 months imprisonment, of which he will serve half in custody and the rest on license.
Jason Howells, prosecuting, told Merthyr Crown Court: “The defendant accelerated forwards towards the pub driving through the railings that separate the beer garden from the street.
“The 10 or 12 people present who had been talking scattered.
“As it struck the railings, the car also struck Lauren Bull who had been standing on the pavement facing the pub and with her back to the defendant.
“She was forced under the front of the car.”
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Following the crash, a spokesperson for the Royal Oak said: “We want to pass on our best wishes to the lady hurt in the incident.
“She was and remains to be our first priority. We have been in constant contact and will do all we can to help her.
“The event has shaken us as a pub, as we work hard to ensure a safe and friendly environment for all our customers, old and new.
“We want to thank each and every person who helped us. This is the type of community spirit we have, and we are so grateful to each of them for helping to contain the situation.”
