A MAN has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving following an incident which left a father with serious back injuries.

Naomi Cassidy

A MAN has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving following an incident which left a father with serious back injuries.

David Mendes, 20, of Orchard Street, Ipswich, appeared at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court and admitted the charge in relation to the collision in Woodbridge Road on July 10.

The smash left Rob Gentry, a father of two from Lonsdale Close, Ipswich with a fractured back.

Mendes received an interim disqualification from driving at the hearing on Saturday and was remanded in custody.

The case has been committed to Ipswich Crown Court. A date is yet to be fixed.

As revealed previously in The Evening Star, on the day of the incident, residents in Kings Avenue, were woken at about 6.30am by a mob of up to ten people embroiled in a fight, several of whom were armed with metal pipes and wood.

When officers arrived soon after, the group dispersed, with a number jumping into a white Vauxhall Vectra and speeding away.

The car made its way to Woodbridge Road where it was involved in a collision with a silver Volkswagen near the Case is Altered pub.

Mr Gentry, who was driving the Golf, had to be cut free from the vehicle and was then taken to Ipswich Hospital with a suspected broken back.

YesterdayThe Evening Star reported that there was light at the end of the tunnel for Mr Gentry as doctors discovered he had a burst fracture-a spinal injury which affects the vertebrae.

He was due to be operated on today.

Mendes, who sustained head injuries, was arrested at the scene before he was taken to hospital by ambulance under police guard.

- Send your messages of support to Rob Gentry and his family by e-mailing starnews@eveningstar.co.uk or write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.