Tidworth soldier sentenced to eight years for deliberately driving into group of teenagers
He was sentenced today (Friday 27th May)
A soldier from Tidworth has been handed an eight year custodial sentence, after he deliberately drove into a group of teenagers in Salisbury, while drunk.
Cameron Bailey, 25 of Mooltan Barracks, spent the afternoon of March 27th drinking with three other soldiers, starting in Amesbury Wetherspoons.
It's there where he drank "unconscionable, unrealistic and ridiculous" amount of alcohol, the prosecutor said.
The group then got into Bailey's blue Skoda and drove to Salisbury to take part in a pub crawl.
Over the course of the day, the defendant admitted drinking five to six pitchers of cocktail by himself, as well as two pints of beer and Jagerbomb shots.
After being refused entry to a pub at around 9.30pm, Bailey and his friends got into a verbal argument and then a scuffle with a group of teenagers, which was broken up by bouncers from nearby bars.
During the fight, Bailey was heard yelling insults of "gratuitous offensiveness" including threatening to rape their sisters and kill their mothers, Salisbury Crown Court heard.
The group then decided to leave Salisbury and head back to the barracks with Bailey at the wheel, but drove past the group of teenagers in Fisherton Street.
He then deliberately turned his car around and drove slowly towards the group.
He then accelerated and hit the five of them at a speed of at least 27mph.
A 17 year old girl was thrown into the air and onto the windscreen, leaving her with severe injuries to her feet and ankles.
A 17-year-old boy also suffered cuts and bruises, and will have a permanent scar on the left side of his face, the court heard.
The other three teens present were knocked to the ground, but were uninjured.
The whole incident was caught on CCTV.
WATCH:
Bailey then drove off, and was found in bed by his sergeant "reeking of alcohol" at around 11pm.
"I DON'T THINK I'LL EVER MAKE A FULL RECOVERY"
In a written victim personal statement submitted to the court, one of the teenagers said the experience had impacted on his life “physically and emotionally”.
He added:
“I remember being in the ambulance and I remember being taken to hospital even though I was in a state of shock. I couldn’t make sense of what had just happened.
“I couldn’t believe that I had been hit by a car. I couldn’t believe that someone would use a car as a weapon like that.
“The next few days I spent at home, still trying to get my head around what had happened. I was also in a lot of pain - I didn’t want to leave the house. I was worried about seeing people and I didn’t want to talk about what happened as I could feel myself getting upset and angry about it.
“The incident has affected my mental health and when I leave the house I’m very anxious around roads and groups of people as I’m scared that the same sort of thing may happen again.
“In time I hope I can move on from what happened, but I know that I will never feel as safe as I did before and I’m worried I’ll never be able to get over what happened to me.”
The 17-year old girl, said:
“I can’t remember a lot about that night, I was in shock by what happened, but every now and then I do get sudden flashbacks.
“I was allowed to go home four days later - on the drive home I was taken back via Fisherton Street which brought back horrible memories and I broke down, hysterically crying in the car.
"My family have also been really affected by this incident, I have never seen Mum and Dad so upset which makes me sad as I feel responsible for everything that has happened.
"I am usually a very confident girl. This incident has hit me so hard, emotionally, physically and psychologically to a point where I don’t think I’ll ever make a full recovery.”
'HE USED HIS CAR AS A WEAPON'
As well as the prison sentence, Bailey has been given a seven-year concurrent driving disqualification and must take an extended retest if he is to obtain a driving licence.
The court also heard how he had been sacked from the army after his conviction.
Speaking following the sentence, Detective Constable Luke Taylor, said:
“I hope the sentence handed to Bailey today gives his victims some comfort and will help them move on from their ordeal.
“The fact that Bailey took the decision to use his car as a weapon and deliberately drove it at a group of people demonstrates a shocking disregard as to the consequences of his actions.
“And to compound this, he drove away from the scene, leaving two teenagers with physical injuries that required hospital treatment and mental scars that may take longer to heal.
“I would like to pay tribute to the victims and witnesses who supported this investigation and played a key role in bringing Bailey to justice.”