Driver jailed after man dragged along road in Telford crash
A man was dragged along a road after he tried to stop a car that had crashed into his van.
Geoffrey Hoof was half in and half out of the car, trying to put the handbrake on, when the driver moved off and along Warren's Way in Woodside, Telford.
Driver Steven Bebb, 33, was arrested and admitted dangerous driving and driving with no insurance when he appeared in court.
Bebb was jailed for 16 months and banned from driving for three years. Judge Jim Tindall said he would have to serve half the sentence before being released on licence.
Mr Duncan Craig, prosecuting, said the incident happened on April 26 when Mr Hoof's van was hit as it was parked outside his home. It was pushed down the road, suffering damage along its side.
The incident was captured on a home CCTV camera, Mr Craig said.
Later that day Mr Hoof was at nearby shops when he spotted the green Ford Focus that had hit his van.
He blocked it in with his second car, a Zafira, and phoned the police.
Bebb came out of the shop saw the car was blocked in and tried to move it, at which point Mr Hoof lent into the passenger door window to try to pull the handbrake on and stop him.
The defendant managed to manoeuvre out and drive down the road with Mr Hoof hanging half in and half out of the Focus.
He told police: "I thought he was trying to kill me by dragging me up the road and then slamming me into a bollard or skip."
Mr Craig said Mr Hoof was thrown clear when Bebb make a sharp turn close to a skip.
He then continued to drive off and drove down a pedestrianised area where children were playing.
Mr Robert Edwards, for Bebb, said his client had played no part in the collision with Mr Hoof's van.
"It was not his car and he was not the driver," he said.
"He was coming out of the shop and saw that the Focus, which belonged to a good friend of his, was blocked in. He should have walked away but instead he decided to get involved."
"At no time did he have any intention of injuring Mr Hoff," Mr Edwards said.
"As he drove away he realised Mr Hoof was half in and half out of the car and he panicked. He drove off when he should have stopped the car."
Mr Edwards said Bebb had many previous convictions most of them for drugs offences.
"He has been in prison for an unconnected offence and, although he says they are readily available where he is, he had managed to stay away from the hard, Class A drugs."
