Scots gran jailed after ploughing car into man and speeding off while he clung to bonnet

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A gran has been jailed after ploughing her car into a man and driving off at speed with him clinging to the bonnet for more than a quarter of a mile.

Mark McIntyre had tried to stop Karen Hayter fleeing the scene of an accident after she hit a parked car in Dundee.

However Hayter drove her Fiat Panda straight at him and carried him more than 500 yards as she continued to speed up. Mr McIntyre was left with multiple injuries after eventually being thrown from the car onto the middle of the road by the 50-year-old.

Sheriff Paul Brown jailed Hayter for 14 months and banned her from driving for five years and seven months. He said: "These are extremely serious offences and in my view there is no alternative to a custodial sentence."

The jury at Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Mr McIntyre tried to stop Hayter from driving away after she clipped a parked car in the city's Fairhurst Walk.

CCTV footage captured the shocking episode at around 11pm. Hayter abandoned her victim in the road, before dumping her car at a nearby Asda and taking a taxi home.

Hayter claimed during the trial that she was "terrified" of Mr McIntyre, who she did not know, and believed he might attack her.

Mr McIntyre told jurors he was having a cigarette outside his partner's home when he saw Hayter's car clip a vehicle, before turning at the top of the street.

He stopped Hayter, fearing she would drive off without reporting the bump.

Mr McIntyre said he positioned himself on the bonnet after believing he was going to be taken "under" the car as Hayter ignored his plea and tried to drive off.

"I shouted 'stop the f***ing car' but she just looked at me like I wasn't even on that car. She just wanted me off. It was just an evil look she had. She was just getting quicker and quicker."

Hayter drove from Fairhurst Walk onto Drumlanrig Drive with Mr McIntyre hanging onto her bonnet.

Asked by fiscal depute Lee Corr what was going through his head, Mr McIntyre replied: "That I could die."

He suffered injuries including cuts to his scalp, large abrasions across his torso and a slipped disc.

Defence counsel Paul Keenan questioned Mr McIntyre's actions and suggested he was the aggressor.

Mr McIntyre recalled Hayter asking him to move out of the way, saying she would come back later.

Mr McIntyre told the jury: "I said 'you hit my neighbour's car' and she denied it. She sat at the top of the road, tooted a couple of times, came down and I confronted her.

"I think I done the right thing. She wouldn't have come back. I believe my gut instinct and I believe I was doing the right thing.

"If I didn't jump on the bonnet, I would have ended up underneath it, and could have died." He was hurled from the car on Valgreen Court.

The court heard how Mr McIntyre repeatedly punched the windscreen of the car as it was being driven.

When asked by Mr Keenan what he was trying to achieve by this, Mr McIntyre said: "That maybe she would come to her senses and stop the car."

Giving evidence, Hayter claimed she was due to pick someone up on Fairhurst Walk that evening and accidentally collided with the parked car around 11pm.

She said she was terrified and did not leave her house for days after the incident due to crippling anxiety, but gave no reason for not reporting the incident to police.

She told the court: "I clipped a car, I turned round to come and stop to see about it but I had no choice because he jumped on my car and punched the windscreen.

"What else could a woman do? I was asking him to get off the car. I just thought he was going to grab me. I just wanted to get home and lock my door."

Hayter, Balunie Street, Dundee, was found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving on 25 September 2022.

The jury found her guilty of causing Mr McIntyre severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment, as well as endangering his life.

Hayter accelerated her car towards him, striking him on the body causing him to jump on the bonnet, driving erratically, closing the window causing his hand to become stuck in the window and swerving harshly while turning a corner, causing him to fall onto the road. She was also found guilty of failing to stop and report an accident.

Mr McIntyre broke down in tears in the public gallery after the jury returned a guilty verdict.

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