Men who beat van driver “unconscious” for Derbyshire pub ramming attack avoid jail

Jonty Edwards, Grant Hodgkiss and Jonathan Dey were all drinking in the Nag’s Head pub in Clowne when drunken Jake Wallis got behind the wheel and rammed into eight people.

The three defendants were caught on CCTV chasing Wallis after he had “reversed over” two women and fled his vehicle before he was tripped up and set upon by them. After the beating – which lasted 15 to 20 seconds – 28-year-old Wallis was left with swollen and blackened eyes, bruised cheeks and reported having lost some vision in one eye.

Derby Crown Court heard how, on June 3 last year, all three defendants were in the pub when a fight involving Wallis and others broke out.

In a police interview defendant Jonty Edwards, 22, who had fought with Wallis in the pub, described hearing him say “I’m going to bonnet someone”. All three men admitted “kicking and punching” Wallis while he was on the ground.

Hodgkiss, 34, who admitted after the fight broke out “things got hazy”, said he had wanted to stop Wallis “doing anything to anyone else”. Wallis, who was jailed in December for 11 years and 10 months, described in a victim statement read out to the court being “mentally affected” by the assault.

Prosecutor Daniel Scothern said Wallis now suffered “flashbacks” and was worried about losing vision in his right eye.

When Wallis was sentenced in December the court heard how he drove into the crowd three times, reversing into and running over two female friends. Miraculously the pair were not killed but suffered significant injuries, as did others who were hit by Wallis.

Gareth Gimson, defending HGV driver and father-of-two Hodgkiss, said what his client and the other defendants did was “manifestly understandable”.

Stefan Fox, for Jonty Edwards, said the landscape gardener now no longer went out after seeing “those he knew trapped” under Wallis’ van. Justin Ablott, defending 52-year-old Jonathan Dey, said his client had seen his friend of 20 years hit by Wallis’ van, causing him to be “dragged” and to have his leg broken.

Mr Ablott added: “He is horrified by what Mr Wallis did but ashamed by how he responded.” All three men admitted assault with actual bodily harm. Edwards, of Ridgeway, Clowne, Hodgkiss, of Creswell Road, Clowne, and Dey, of Portland Street, Clowne, were each handed a two-year conditional discharge.

Judge James Carter told them: “What happened that evening was horrific. I accept that this was an extraordinary event but you have all accepted what you did was wrong.

"I am satisfied that there was a degree of retribution in what you did after witnessing the awful actions by Mr Wallis in his van. There is a significant amount of provocation and you have all shown a good deal of remorse. In the extraordinary circumstances of this offence I am not satisfied that the custody threshold is crossed.”