JAILED: Thug smashed car window and beat victim after 100mph chase
A feud between two men accelerated into a 100mph chase that ended with one of them being knocked down by passing traffic, a judge heard.
Christopher Groves was trying to flee on foot after his Astra got stuck in a jam at Burnt Tree, Dudley, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
The car had been pursued along the Birmingham New Road from its junction with Sedgley Road West, Tipton by a distinctive black and white Audi A3 with Kirk Garner at the wheel.
The 37-year-old's ex-girlfriend was allegedly 'having difficulties' with Mr Groves whom he spotted by chance while driving through the area and decided to teach him a lesson, explained Mr Richard Franck, prosecuting.
Garner and his two passengers leapt out of the Audi when the Astra got delayed, smashed its back window and hit the victim over the head with a 'blunt instrument,' thought to be a hammer, causing a gash.
Mr Groves, a banksman, frantically tried to escape but ran into the path of a vehicle on the opposite carriageway causing a serious injury to an ankle that still blights his life almost three years later, the court heard.
He told police: "I feared for my life."
The defendant drove off with his passengers – who have not been traced – in the Audi that was found burned out several days later.
He went to ground after police discovered he was the insured driver of the vehicle.
He handed himself in to police days after his picture and an appeal for him to come forward were published in the Express & Star almost a year after the December 5, 2013 incident.
Garner from Toll End Road, Tipton pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and dangerous driving.
He was jailed for two years three months by Judge James Burbidge QC who told him: "You saw Mr Groves by chance and intended to teach him a lesson. He was chased at over 100 mph."
"You hit him on the back of the head with something hard and you are entirely responsible for the serious injury he then suffered to his ankle which has blighted his personal life. You then burnt out your car while trying to avoid responsibility."
