Warwick woman drove into a taxi driver, knocking him to the ground, as he tried to record her number after she had clipped his car in Leamington

A Warwick woman drove into a taxi driver, knocking him to the ground, as he tried to record her number after she had clipped his car as he was trying to park.

But Claire Williams escaped being jailed after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to dangerous driving on a basis that she had acted recklessly rather than hitting him deliberately.

Williams (43) of Longbridge, Warwick, was given a 12-month community order, with a rehabilitation activity, and was banned from driving for 12 months – after which she will have to take an extended test to get her licence back.

Prosecutor Philip Allman said that in the early hours of June 3, 2019, a taxi driver was trying to park in Clarendon Square, Leamington, when Williams pulled up very close behind him in her BMW 116 Sport.

She then pulled out, clipping the rear wing of his car as she did so – so he followed her and pulled alongside her when she stopped at the junction with Clarendon Place.

He called to her to ask her to pull over and give him her details, and when she failed to do so, he got out of his taxi and stood in front of her car.

“He’s filming her and her number plate, and she drives forward relatively slowly and hits him to the knee area, causing him a lot of pain,” said Mr Allman.

The taxi driver was knocked to the ground, and on his recording he could be heard saying: “My knee, my knee.”

Judge Sylvia de Bertodano commented that it could have been charged as an assault, which Mr Allman confirmed.

He continued: “The defendant continues to rev her engine, but then reverses and drives round the complainant and parks up nearby.

“She comes back and continues to behave aggressively and abusively.”

Mr Allman said the driver went to hospital where he had an x-ray and was referred to the fracture clinic – but it was not possible to say whether the softening of the bone in his knee was a result of the incident.

In a statement the driver said he had had to have time off work, which had left him in debt, and had suffered sleepless nights because of the pain to his knee.

When she was arrested and interviewed, Williams said she had felt intimidated – but did show some remorse, Mr Allman added.

Tariq Shakoor, defending, said: “She is absolutely ashamed and quite mortified by what she engaged in on this night. She regrets bitterly what happened.

“She can be heard telling him to get out of her way before she drives forward. Obviously she’s hit him, but it’s not at any great speed.

“Her account is that she had given him the details before he stood in front of the vehicle, and there was a degree of panic. She had not realised she had done any damage or clipped the taxi.

“She is quite fearful of the outcome,” said Mr Shakoor.

Sentencing Williams, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano told her: “You are here because of what happened rather a while ago now.

“There was some toing and froing about parking, and his account is that you clipped his car, and you accept you may have.

“But what happened next is that he drove after you and pulled up alongside and was shouting to you and asking for your details.

“He then got out and he was filming your car to get the number plate, and you drove forward and hit him to the knee.

“The prosecution accept you were not intending to hurt him, but you were clearly being reckless. He was clearly in pain on that night.

“It is clearly a serious incident, but you are 43 years old and a woman of good character. You had a difficult childhood and you have also had difficulties in your adult life.

“This is a complete one-off in your life, and fortunately there was no serious injury.”