Wiltshire man jailed for driving into person and breaking their spine after row

A Wiltshire man purposefully drove his vehicle directly into a member of the public, breaking his spine and fighting for his life.

Jake Johnson-Atcherley, 21, of Watson Close in Upavon, was sentenced to 16 years in prison at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday 22 June for two counts of assault causing grievous bodily harm and assault causing actual bodily harm.

Back in July last year, following a row near Station Road car park with a woman who was walking her dog, Johnson-Atcherley drove his vehicle into the woman’s partner.

This caused him to fly into the air before landing on the ground sustaining severe breaks to his legs and arm, a large laceration to his head and a broken spine amongst other injuries.

Johnson-Atcherley drove off at speed, leaving the man in a critical condition receiving first aid from members of the public.

The victim was airlifted to Southmead Hospital and he is still working hard with his ongoing rehabilitation.

Johnson-Atcherley hid at a friend’s house overnight but was arrested the following day, 23 June. 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.  

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.

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."