A Malmesbury man has been jailed for 27 months after pleading guilty to Grievous Bodily Harm after assaulting a male van driver on the A429 near Malmesbury.
Mitchell Clarke (27) from Newton Grove, Malmesbury was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court on Friday 14 July 2017 after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing at the same court on Wednesday 28 June 2017.
On Wednesday 6 July 2016 the victim was driving a white Vauxhall Movano van on the A429 towards Malmesbury. A black Mercedes ‘A’ class, being driven by the Mitchell Clarke was also travelling along the same road in the same direction and on reaching Crudwell there was a collision between the Mercedes and the van; both vehicles then stopped.
The victim was then approached by Clarke videoing him on his mobile phone, demanding that he admit liability for the collision. The victim wrote out his details to exchange with Mitchell Clarke but was then repeatedly punched in the face by Clarke.
The van driver received a cut beneath his eye, a fractured eye socket (which was subsequently operated on at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford) as well as considerable psychological trauma.
The judge in the case sentenced Clarke to 27 months imprisonment and awarded £1,500 compensation to the victim.
PC Sam Bussey said: “The victim was badly beaten by this individual and sustained physical and longer term psychological injuries. What was a minor collision has ended up being a case of serious assault on an innocent man just going about his daily business.
“We welcome this result as it reflects the seriousness of this crime and hopefully has taught Clarke a lesson that in whatever situation, whether or not it’s a heat of the moment situation, it’s not worth becoming angry or aggressive.”
