Prison for man who drunkenly rammed woman's van in "terrifying" pursuit

Saturday 09 January 2021

A man who used his van as a weapon to repeatedly ram a woman’s vehicle from behind has been jailed for two years and four months by the Royal Court.

At the time, Nicholas Paul Brown (32) was also driving over the drink-drive limit, without a licence, uninsured and in a defective vehicle.

He later rang his the woman from prison, trying to get her to withdraw her statement, despite being ordered not to contact her.

In total, Brown faced 14 charges in the Royal Court on Friday, which covered three separate incidents. 

By far the most serious of these was on 22 August, when the police received a 999 call from the woman whose van was being rammed from behind. Down the line, the call centre operator could hear another vehicle smashing into the van.

The ordeal had begun earlier in Stopford Road, when the woman dropped off some passengers . 

Pictured: The woman pulled into the Mont Félard pub, where Brown followed and was arrested. Credit: Google Maps.

Brown was parked nearby in his Vauxhall van and walked over to the vehicle. She assumed that he wanted to talk to her, but he instead smashed a spirit level into her windscreen. He made a second swing, but she drove off before he could connect.

As she passed through the Parade, the woman noticed Brown following her and when she stopped at the traffic lights at the bottom of Gloucester Street, Brown got out of his van, leaned into her window and said: “Do you think I’m a f**king mug? You think that’s bad? You wait till I get home – I’m going to smash the f**king van to pieces.”

She drove off when the lights turned green but as she passed West Park, Brown rammed into her, which is when she called the police. He shunted her again during the call, when she hit her head on the shelf over the driver’s visor, and again on the Inner Road at First Tower.

The woman then drove through a temporary red light near St Andrew’s Park in an attempt to get away, but he continued to pursue her. With the 999 operator still on the line, she pulled into the Mont Félard Pub car park, hoping that the police would come, but Brown also parked up and followed her into the bar.

Moments later, however, the emergency services arrived and Brown was arrested. A blood sample taken later at Police Headquarters found that he was 70% over the legal drink-drive limit.

Less than two weeks later, while on remand at the prison and despite an order from the Magistrate preventing him from contacting the woman Brown phoned her three times, telling her to withdraw her statement. 

A few hours after the last conversation, she did so.

Brown was also sentenced for using a mobile phone while driving in December 2019 and last July. On both occasions, Brown was found to be driving without a licence and uninsured. 

Defending Brown, Advocate Rui Tremoceiro said that his client accepted that he had behaved very badly and should be punished but the lawyer argued that a non-custodial sentence was appropriate.

“I am not instructed to make excuses; my client is mortified by his actions and the effect it has had,” he said. “However, Mr Brown has already been punished: he has been deprived of his liberty for nearly seven months and he has lost his business, which he worked hard to build up.”

Pictured: Advocate Rui Tremoceiro defended Brown and called for a non-custodial sentence.

Advocate Tremoceiro added that Brown had acknowledged the pressure of trying to keep his business afloat in the pandemic and had sought the help of mental health specialists before committing the most serious of his offences in August. 

However, in passing sentence, Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae – who was sitting with Jurats Ronge and Austin-Vautier – said that only a custodial sentence was justified.

He said: “We note that you have lost a business that you were building up... but the offences on 22 August were very serious.

“This ordeal must have been terrifying.

“Also, this court has repeatedly held that any attempt to intimidate or persuade victims to change or withdraw their statements will be dealt with severely, with this offence attracting a consecutive sentence unless there are extraordinary circumstances. 

“And there are none in this case.”

Pictured: Attorney General Mark Temple said the van "was effectively used as a weapon."

Brown was also disqualified from driving for three years and his van - which had defective brakes and tyres - was seized.

Commenting on that after the sentencing, Attorney General Mark Temple said: "I am grateful to the Royal Court for its use of the Criminal Justice (Forfeiture Orders) (Jersey) Law 2001 to forfeit the defendant’s van in this case.

"The van was effectively used as a weapon.

"As far as I am aware, it is the first use of the 2001 Law to forfeit a motor vehicle in Jersey, at least in recent years. The prosecution will in future make applications to the Court to forfeit motor vehicles in other cases involving serious motoring offences, such as offences involving dangerous driving or grossly excessive speeding.”