KEY POINTS
- A man tried to run down his ex-partner after the woman blocked him from her Facebook account
- His ex was able to jump out of the way, but his car struck her friend
- The man also slapped his ex and her friend, a prosecutor says
A 19-year-old man in the U.K. has been sentenced to prison after driving his car at his ex-partner and her friend in a rage after his ex blocked him from her Facebook account.
Ryan Meggitt, of Grimsby, England, was sentenced at Grimsby Crown Court to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of dangerous driving in connection with the incident that occurred on Wingate Road, Grimsby, on July 21 last year, the Grimsby Telegraph reported.
Meggitt was also handed a month in prison for each of the three charges of assault by beating that he pleaded guilty to. This sentence will run concurrently with the 15-month jail term.
His ex-partner, whose name was not disclosed, managed to jump out of the way of Meggitt's speeding Ford Fiesta, but her friend, also unidentified, was knocked over and tossed over the bonnet of the car in the road rage incident.
Prosecutor Benjamin Donnell told the court that Meggitt was angry over being blocked from his ex-partner's social media account and went to the home where she was staying with a friend on the day of the incident.
Meggitt honked his car horn outside the house and then banged on the door. When his ex answered the door, Meggitt started shouting at her and slapped her across the face, according to the prosecutor.
When her friend tried to intervene and warned the 19-year-old to stop shouting, Meggitt also slapped the friend in the face.
The altercation spilled out to the road outside of the property, where Meggitt got back into his car and again sounded his horn.
The ex-partner gestured that she was going to throw a traffic cone at Meggitt’s car. She also waved Meggitt’s wallet, which she had taken from his car. Not long after, the woman put the traffic cone down.
When the two women were walking back to the home, however, Meggitt drove his red Fiesta at them, mounting the curb near Wingate Road. His former partner was able to jump out of the way, but the friend was struck by the car.
A witness saw the friend getting hit by the car and landing on the bonnet of the vehicle. The victim was then thrown in the air and landed in the middle of the road.
"He made no attempt to stop and flew past the Valiant pub. The woman was unable to get up and the witness put her in the recovery position until the ambulance arrived. It was suspected she had broken her pelvis. But she was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary and escaped with grazes and bruising," Donnell said.
Meggitt turned himself in to police shortly after the incident, which occurred around 6 p.m. that day, the prosecutor said.
"I don't accept you lost control while driving that car. Whether it was your intention to run them over, I don't know. You could have stopped. But you didn't and knocked over the woman. That she did not suffer death or serious injury is a matter of luck," recorder Anthony Kelbrick said during the sentencing.
In addition to being jailed for 15 months, Meggitt was also banned from driving for two years and ordered an extended retest.
Representational Image. Photo: pixabay
