A British soldier on duty who left two teenagers in need of hospital treatment and sustained psychological trauma when he deliberately nailed them with his sports car after a piece of intoxication has been jailed for eight years.
Cameron Bailey, who has since been fired from the military, drank about six pitchers of spirits mixed with energy drinks and cocktails, as well as beers, before arguing with a group of young people in Salisbury, Wiltshire. .
When Bailey, 25, later saw them, he drove to the sidewalk and, using his Skoda Octavia VRS “as a weapon,” blew them up “like bowling on a bowling alley.” Salisbury Crown Court.
One of the victims, a 17-year-old girl, was thrown into the air and crashed into the windshield, with serious injuries to her heels and ankles, so she has needed several operations.
She told the court, “I get flashbacks. I’m usually a very safe girl. This incident has affected me a lot, emotionally, physically and psychologically, to the point that I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover.”
The second victim, a 17-year-old boy, suffered head injuries, one of which required six stitches and left him marked for life. He said: “I couldn’t believe someone was using a car as a weapon. When I leave the house I’m very anxious about the roads and groups of people, because I’m afraid the same kind of thing will happen again.”
On March 27, the day of the attack, Bailey, who was stationed in Tidworth, Wiltshire, went out drinking with three colleagues.
Prosecutor Charles Gabb said he had “an unsociable and absolutely ridiculous amount of alcohol” at a Wetherspoon pub in Amesbury. He then drove to Salisbury to do a pub crawl. “Around 5pm he drank more pitchers at a Wetherspoon in Salisbury,” Gabb said. “He has now drunk five or six pitchers.”
Far from the pub, Bailey got into an altercation with a group of teenagers and made “bad threats” at them, but they broke up.
Bailey and his colleagues returned to their car to return to Tidworth. Gabb said, “It must have been absolutely boiling and with a drunken rage.” The soldier passed the teenagers, then turned around and, without being seen, aimed his car at them.
Gabb said: “He drove deliberately to the curb, using his car as the most frightening weapon, making these young men fly like bowling pins on a bowling alley.” It hit them at a low of 27 mph. Along with the two injured, three more were thrown to the ground but escaped from injuries. Bailey returned to the barracks.
He admitted to causing serious bodily harm, injuries and dangerous driving.
Judge Susan Evans QC said Bailey used the car as a “fearsome weapon” when he was under the “extreme influence” of alcohol. He said he had to serve two-thirds of his prison sentence instead of the usual half because of the seriousness of his crime.