Stourbridge car boot sale queue jumper gets suspended prison sentence

Martin Wiggin was not prepared to wait in line as traffic backed up at the exit, Stafford Crown Court heard.

The 48-year-old pulled out of the queue and drove along the empty entrance slip road to the event in Bridgnorth Road, Wombourne, explained Mr Nigel Booth, prosecuting.

But after a short distance he found his path blocked by Todd Turley who was directing traffic dressed in a high vis jacket.

Wiggin was forced to stop and hurled abuse at the marshal who stood his ground despite the barrage of swear words.

The irate motorist then slowly moved his car forward in an unsuccessful attempt to force Mr Turley out of the way, continued Mr Booth.

When Wiggin repeated the dangerous manoeuvre the victim ended up sprawled across the bonnet of the Vauxhall and appeared to aim a punch at the windscreen of the vehicle.

A woman passenger in the car used her mobile to call police and report the incident which happened in May 2015 and was captured on the dash board camera of the defendant's car.

Mr Booth explained: "He had been with his girlfriend in a queue but became tired of waiting to leave the car boot sale and switched to the empty entrance lane in the middle of which stood a man in a yellow high vis jacket who forced him to stop.

"There was an impact between the front of the vehicle and the man trying to prevent him from leaving by the entrance route. The man later complained of an injury but the prosecution say there is insufficient evidence to conclude this was caused by the accident."

As a result an allegation of causing serious injury by dangerous driving was discontinued and replaced by a charge of dangerous driving which Wiggin admitted on Thursday.

Miss Rachel Pennington, defending, said: "The dash board cam showed the man walking around and crouching down to get through a fence, displaying no sign of an injury after the incident.

"The defendant accepts that he behaved stupidly in his haste to get out of the car park and regrets what happened."

Wiggin from Hilltop, Stourbridge was given a two month prison sentence suspended for 12 months with £300 costs and banned from driving for 18 months.

Judge Mark Eades told him: "You are a man who has difficulty controlling your temper. You got frustrated and decided to queue jump. You then delivered a foul mouthed diatribe to the traffic marshal and struck him with your car at least twice.

"It was an intemperate, dangerous act which was very frightening for him. You were using your car as a weapon and he had no idea how the confrontation would end."