Man ran over 'reckless' driver after fight on petrol station forecourt in Leeds

Haile Dacres, 29, of Stonegate Place, Leeds, ran over the victim and also drove towards a petrol station attendant who had tried to intervene after the two men got into a fight at the Jet garage on Meanwood Road.

Dacres was sentenced to 15 months in prison on Tuesday (June 27) after pleading guilty to one count of affray and one of dangerous driving.

For the prosecution, Robert Galley said that Dacres was leaving the petrol station on October 22, 2022, when the other man drove on to the forecourt in his Toyota Yaris in a dangerous manner.

Dacres “feared he was going to be struck” and an argument broke out between the two, with Dacres throwing a bottle of water at the Yaris. Dacres later told police that he was racially abused by the other man.

The two men then began fighting and a petrol attendant came out to try and stop them. A member of the public also stepped in to keep the two men apart.

Dacres then walked back to his BMW X3 and the other man went to his car boot and pulled out a “long piece of metal” and began “waving it around”.

Mr Galley said that Dacres then reversed his BMW towards the other man and the attendant. He then pulled forward and drove at the other man again, causing him to be “knocked over the side of the bonnet and onto the road”.

The man suffered minor bruising to his left leg as a result.

Dacres then drove off onto Meanwood Road but came back some minutes later in a different car and with a passenger.

He was questioned by police at the scene and told them that the other man “almost ran me over” and got a metal bar from his trunk.

Mr Gailey said that his driving was “a bit foot heavy” and he “accidentally drove over him”.

After being arrested by police he was interviewed and asked why he drove at the other man, to which he said: “I was trying to leave.”

The court heard that the other man involved in the altercation had previously been given a 16-week suspended sentence after pleading guilty to one count of affray.

It was also told how Dacres had seven previous convictions, including for charges of robbery, the supply of drugs and for dangerous driving.

For the defence, Nicholas Hammond said that there was personal mitigation from Dacres’s grandmother and the mother of his child and that Dacres was “remorseful and wants to make positive changes”.

Mr Hammond said: “The best that can be said is that he didn’t go out that day looking for trouble.

"This defendant should have got in his car and drove away. He lost his temper and the consequences can be seen.”

Despite Mr Hammond’s request that Dacres be given a suspended prison sentence, Mr Recorder A. Serr sentenced him to 15 months in custody and disqualified him from driving for three years. He said that this was due to his previous convictions related to dangerous driving.

He added: “It’s fortuitous that more serious injuries were not sustained.”