The truck driver fell to the ground and ran over the man who “disrespected” him in the pub

A man who felt he was insulted and disrespected in his local pub by a new customer chased the man down and deliberately ran him over with his truck, a court heard.

Terrance Powell then drove his car over his distressed victim as he lay on the ground, leaving the man with tire marks on the front of his shirt but “miraculously” no serious injuries to his chest, pelvis or spine. Powell sped off after hitting the man, but was filmed by witnesses who saw the accident and reported it to the police. He later surrendered himself to the police. After sending the 37-year-old father to prison, the judge said it was “pure coincidence” that the victim was not seriously injured or even killed by his actions.

Swansea Crown Court heard that Powell spent the afternoon and evening of June 8 this year drinking at the Ship Inn pub in St Thomas, Swansea, with friends. Also at the bar was the man who Powell later brought down, a man who was not a regular but had spent the evening approaching various groups of drinkers trying to join them. Eventually, staff asked the man – a Polish national – to leave the building but he refused and a number of regular customers kicked him out.

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Hannah George, prosecuting, said the defendant left the pub a short time later, got into his VW Crafter and, after driving two circuits around the pub, went looking for the man. The court heard that the defendant came across two female university students who were on their way home and asked them if they had spoken to a Polish man in the area, and they confirmed that they had. Powell drove around the Tawi River Bridges roundabout and then spotted his target. The court heard that the accused swerved his car around a lamp post, deliberately mounted the sidewalk and knocked the man to the ground before running him over. The incident was witnessed by the two students, who then filmed the accused on their phones while he was leaving in the car.

Miss George said witnesses rushed to the injured man and found him lying in bushes on the side of the road, “groaning in pain” with blood pouring from his nose. There were car tire marks on the front of his shirt. Emergency services were called and after receiving treatment from paramedics at the scene, the injured man was taken to Morriston Hospital with bruising to his face and torso. The prosecutor said that “miraculously” the victim did not suffer serious injuries to his legs, pelvis, chest or spine during the assault. However, the man was then admitted to Neath Port Talbot Hospital with pain in his knee and after being examined and put on a splint on his leg, he was referred to physiotherapy. It is not yet known whether he will need surgery on his knee.

The court heard that Powell handed himself in to police three days after the incident and gave officers a prepared statement in which he confirmed he had spoken to the man at the bar and said he later met him by chance while driving. He said he wanted to talk to the man about the possibility of work and denied deliberately driving towards him, claiming he dropped his mobile phone in the cab of the truck and when he bent down to retrieve it he accidentally hit a pedestrian.

The court heard details of a victim impact statement in which he said he came to the UK about 10 years ago before moving to Wales last year. He said he and his family had planned to stay in Wales forever, but now he was unsure. He also said the incident had affected his mental health, leaving him struggling to sleep and requiring sessions with a psychiatrist as well as requiring lengthy physical rehabilitation. The statement concluded by saying that the victim had been unable to work since the accident, which led to his family falling into debt.

Terrance Henry Powell, of Lyon Street, One Wyn, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has nine previous convictions for 13 offenses including battery, public order matters and drink driving.

Tom Scapens, for Powell, said the defendant had been “refreshingly frank” with the author of the pre-sentence report about the crime and what the consequences could be for the victim. He said his client knew he had let his family and children down, and made clear he did not want his children to visit him in prison while he served the inevitable prison sentence he faced.

Judge Hugh Rees said it was clear from everything he had read that after the confrontation at the Ship Inn which “in reality could have had little real consequences” the defendant felt “humiliated and disrespected” and lost his temper. Even if the other man had been a nuisance at the bar, the defendant’s response was “disproportionate, extreme and deeply wrong,” he said. The judge said it was “a coincidence” that the victim did not suffer serious injury or even lose his life.

With a discount of a quarter for his plea of ​​guilty to attempting to cause GBH with intent, Powell was sentenced to three years in prison, and with a discount of a third for his plea of ​​dangerous driving – an admission made at a later stage of the proceedings – to 16 months; The two sentences will be served concurrently, making the total sentence three years in prison. Powell will spend up to half of that period in custody before being released on license to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant was disqualified from driving for four and a half years – an initial three-year ban followed by a further 18 months to account for the time he will spend behind bars.

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