A Jersey Lifts driver has been found guilty of grave and criminal assault after deliberately driving his car into one of his passengers.

Leonardo Tome Da Silva (23) told the Magistrate’s Court that he had acted in self-defence when his two passengers had attacked him.

But an eye-witness watching from his house in the same street said: “There is no doubt in my mind it was a deliberate attempt to ram him.”

The passenger sustained injuries to his knees that could have been caused by the collision,
but had other bruises and abrasions which a doctor said may have had a different cause.

Da Silva had collected the two men in his grey Audi from a party in St Lawrence on the evening of 4 August, and drove them to Lower Kings Cliff in St Helier.

He said one of them refused to put on his seatbelt when asked, and added: “Throughout the whole trip they were verbally abusive.”

One of them refused to get out of the car and punched Da Silva in the head. A scuffle broke out and the driver got back into his car.

Da Silva said: “I was so intimidated. I didn’t think properly. I was trying to intimidate them.”

But Advocate Katie Ridley, prosecuting, asked him: “Why didn’t you just drive away?”

She suggested: “You used your car as a weapon because you were angry.”

He replied: “I was angry, but I did not hit him with my car.”

The Advocate Ridley also told the court: “There was no panicking. This was calculated behaviour.

“This wasn’t an accident. This must have been intentional. There was an unavoidable consequence to what he did.”

Advocate Olaf Blakeley, defending, pointed out that the eye-witness had not seen the entire incident and argued that Da Silva did act in self-defence.

He said: “He was using the car as a shield, not a sword.”

However, Relief Magistrate Sarah Fitz concluded: “I accept that there was provocation.

“But I do not accept that this act could have been in self-defence.”

The maximum sentence the Magistrate’s Court can impose is one year in prison, and the Relief Magistrate said that Da Silva may need to be sentenced by the Royal Court.

She released him on bail to return to the court on 29 July when a decision on sentencing venue will be made.

Da Silva also admitted a charge of speeding.

On 7 June, he had driven a blue Land Rover along La Grande Route de St Clement at 64mph while his partner and two-year-old child were in the vehicle.

The speed limit there is 30mph.

He will be sentenced for the speeding at his 29 July court appearance.