Moment thug makes use of rushing automotive as ‘weapon’ and ploughs into father, 26, sending him face-first into entrance backyard earlier than attacking pal in highway
- **WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT**
A father was left on the brink of death after being rammed by a speeding car that was being used as a ‘highly dangerous weapon’.
Jack Kent suffered a brain injury after being sent flying 20ft in the air when he was ‘deliberately’ rammed by a VW Golf outside a house in Weymouth, Dorset.
Horrific CCTV footage shows the 26-year-old being flung over a nearby brick wall before landing face-first in the front garden of a house next door.
Jack’s friend Ross Whitehouse was also knocked off his feat during the attack, before being set upon by the driver Leon Fowler who proceeded to drag him into the road and repeatedly punch him in the head.
Fowler, 25, was found guilty of causing GBH with intent and dangerous driving after using ‘his car as a highly dangerous weapon’ and was sentenced to nine years in jail.
Jack Kent (right) was left on the brink of death after being rammed by speeding car
Horrific CCTV footage shows the 26-year-old being flung over a nearby brick wall before landing face-first into the front garden of a house next door
Leon Fowler (pictured) was found guilty of causing GBH with intent and dangerous driving after using ‘his car as a highly dangerous weapon’ and was sentenced to nine years in jail
Jack, who works as a builder, told the Sun he doesn’t remember anything about the incident, which he is still recovering from four months on.
He said: ‘Watching the footage was horrible, when I saw it I just thought “wow, I’m lucky to be alive”.
‘I was lying there choking on my own blood and it looked like I was hit in the face with a shovel, my nose was flattened.
Jack was rushed to hospital and put in an induced coma, with doctors unsure whether he would pull through.
He spent two weeks in intensive care with a brain injury and underwent major reconstructive surgery to heal the fractures to his face and arm.
Jack added: ‘My cheekbones and nose were completely shattered, they had to rebuild it, my whole nose is metal now and they had to wire my jaw together.’
The father said he only woke up because of his daughter as she gave him ‘a reason to live’, adding that he believes ‘there was someone looking out for me’.
After attending court to watch Fowler’s sentencing, Jack is now trying to put the horrific attack behind him.
Jack’s friend Ross Whitehouse was set upon by Fowler who proceeded to drag him into the road and repeatedly punch him in the head
Bournemouth Crown Court heard there had been ‘some history’ between the three men involved.
Ruba Huleihel, prosecuting, told the court Jack ‘had no chance of moving out of the way’ before being struck in the back by Fowler’s car.
‘The defendant then got out of the VW Golf and started to attack Ross Whitehouse. He punched him approximately nine times and kicked and stamped on him four times,’ she added, according to the Sun.
Ms Huleihel said Jack now experiences ‘memory loss and struggles to retain information’. He is also unable to lift heavy object due to the injuries to his arm.
She added that Jack’s mental health has also suffered and he is now ‘seeing a psychiatrist for anxiety, depression and PTSD’.
Fowler claimed he was ‘trying to scare Mr Kent’ and had ‘blacked out’ during the attack so ‘couldn’t remember anything’.
Jonathan Underhill, defending, said Fowler is ‘ashamed by what he has done’ and is aware he has changed the lives of his two victims.
Along with his sentence, Fowler was disqualified from driving for six and a half years. He was also handed a ten-year restraining order preventing him from contacting Jack or Ross.