A man who nearly killed his victim with his car in Devizes has been handed a prison term.
21-year-old Jake Johnson-Atcherley was involved in a verbal altercation with a woman who was walking her dog near Station Road Car Park on 27 July 2022.
He proceeded to drive his vehicle, which had three passengers, in a loop – before driving his vehicle directly at – and hitting – the woman’s partner Antony Ford.
The impact caused him to fly into the air and landing on the ground. He sustained severe breaks to his legs and arm, a large laceration to his head and a broken spine among other injuries.
Johnson-Atcherley drove off at speed with a shattered windscreen and damage to his vehicle, leaving the man in a critical condition – receiving first aid from members of the public.
The victim was airlifted to Southmead Hospital where he was stabilised, but he continues to recover and is working hard with his ongoing rehabilitation.
In an attempt to evade police, the defendant hid at a friend’s house overnight but was arrested the following day. He was charged and remanded, but released from court the following day.
He had committed the offence whilst under investigation for an assault at The Kebab House in Devizes where he punched a man multiple times to the face, wrongly believing he had insulted a friend of his. The victim suffered a dislocated arm and a severe break to his jaw.
A second man involved in the kebab house assault – Eddy Hitchcox, 21, previously of Pans Lane, Devizes – was sentenced to a two-year community order, 45 days rehabilitation, 150 hours of unpaid work and charged £1,000 to pay to his victim after pleading guilty for his involvement.
And then in March this year, whilst on bail for the Station Road incident, Johnson-Atcherley arranged to meet a friend in Marlborough where he enticed him out of sight of CCTV cameras and punched him repeatedly to the face over a £20 debt.
At Winchester Crown Court today (Thursday), the defendant, of Watson Close, Upavon, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for assault causing grievous bodily harm, eight months for a second count of assault causing grievous bodily harm to run concurrently and four months for assault causing actual bodily harm to also run concurrently.
Det Con Simon Rogers said: “Johnson-Atcherley is an extremely violent offender who has shown absolutely no remorse for his actions. In deliberately driving his vehicle at his victim, he left him with life changing injuries.
“The victim has shown incredible braveness and determination to initially survive the attack and to continue with his rehabilitation, nearly a year on from the incident.
“In the moments immediately after this incident, several members of the public were quick to provide the man with first aid in the most traumatic of circumstances until paramedics arrived on scene and he was airlifted to hospital. Their quick-thinking inevitably saved his life.
“All three of these incidents were incredibly frightening for the victims and I would like to thank them, and the witnesses, for their support with our enquiries to speak up and ensure this violent offender could be put before the courts.”
