Leeds drink-driver 'deliberately' rammed car that hit pedestrian in move described as being 'like Grand Theft Auto'
A drink-driver who appeared to follow a couple from a pub then “deliberately” rammed into one of their cars which in turn ploughed into a passing pedestrian.
The horror smash caused by Thomas Sutcliffe was compared by the pedestrian, who ended up in hospital with a serious leg injury, to being like “something from Grand Theft Auto”, the popular video game in which players take and crash cars.
Sutcliffe was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week after eventually admitting dangerous driving, being over the drink-drive limit and failing to stop at an accident, after he took off from the scene without stopping. The case had initially been set down for trial after Sutcliffe denied wrongdoing.
The court heard that the couple had been in The Owl Inn in Rodley, taking part in a pub quiz on the evening of November 11, 2023.
Sutcliffe was also in the pub and kept looking over towards the couple. Prosecutor Jamie Wilson said that they recognised Sutcliffe because had not long been convicted of GBH against his former partner.
The couple left later in the night and got into their respective cars to drive home, with Sutcliffe leaving at the same time.
With the couple driving in convoy, the woman in her VW Polo felt they were being followed by Sutcliffe in his BMW 320 as they turned onto Half Mile Lane.
The BMW kept driving up to her bumper and then dropping back. Worried, she pulled over and the BMW carried on towards the woman’s partner’s Audi in front.
Again, Sutcliffe accelerated up close, then dropped back. He then tried to overtake the Audi on Swinnow Lane but collided with the car, causing it to career out of control and slam into the pedestrian, who was pushed into a railing and into a ditch.
The couple both got out to tend to the man and call 999 as the BMW continued on.
The police went to Sutcliffe’s home a short time later and found the damaged BMW parked outside. He was arrested and breathalysed, blowing 55 mcgs of alcohol in 100 mls of breath. The legal limit is 35 mcgs.
The 36-year-old then refused to answer police questions during his interview.
Reading his own victim impact statement out to the court, the pedestrian said he had been walking to his girlfriend’s that night, having stepped off a bus.
He was left with a badly-injured leg, but said the psychological effect had taken its toll. He has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, was said he was “constantly on edge and scanning for danger”.
Sutcliffe, of Broom Mills Road, Farsley, has two previous convictions, including the GBH on his former partner in 2023 for which he received a 16-month sentence, suspended for 24 months. The driving offences put him in breach of that suspended sentence.
Mitigating, Stuart Field said it was an “ill-judged overtaking manoeuvre” that had “devastating effects”.
He said that Sutcliffe had a “deep sense of guilt and shame”, although conceded it may sound “hollow”, given his late guilty pleas.
He added that Sutcliffe was now working with a drugs and alcohol counselling service.
Judge Kate Rayfield told Sutcliffe that he decided to get behind the wheel that night for “only reasons you know”.
But she added that the incident “seemed to be entirely deliberate” and that it “utterly traumatised” the pedestrian.
She jailed him for 18 months, and activated four months of his suspended sentence, making a total of 22 months.
He was also handed a 35-month driving ban and told he must pass an extended driving test to get his licence back.