AN Ipswich mother has escaped an immediate prison sentence after grabbing the steering wheel of her partner's car causing it to collide with a man standing in the road.

Lizzie Parry

AN Ipswich mother has escaped an immediate prison sentence after grabbing the steering wheel of her partner's car causing it to collide with a man standing in the road.

Kirsty Hayman had been involved in a confrontation with Gavin Nolloth in the early hours of Sunday, February 22 on Falcon Street outside a kebab shop.

The 21-year-old of Margate Road was getting into her partner's car, with her two-year-old daughter in the back, when an argument broke out.

Ipswich Crown Court heard that Mr Nolloth started shouting, calling Hayman a “bad mother.”

To avoid further confrontation she got into the car, which her partner was driving, but because of traffic restrictions in Dogs Head Street they had to come back past the shop.

The court was told that Mr Nolloth, who was still shouting and pointing, stepped off the curb just onto the road and Hayman suddenly grabbed the steering wheel of the car, causing it to violently swerve to the left.

It collided with Mr Nolloth and a red Toyota belonging to the kebab shop owner and Hayman's partner panicked and drove off.

Prosecutor Rosalind Jones said Mr Nolloth - who was unconscious and taken to Ipswich Hospital with bruising, an inch long cut on the back of the head and bruises to his shoulders, arms and legs - was “thrown onto the bonnet and up in the air.”

Defence counsel Joanne Eley said her client showed willing to admit the offence and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

She said the incident was not premeditated and that her client did not go out that night “looking for trouble.”

“She (Hayman) is deeply remorseful and extends her apologies for her actions to him,” she said.

Sentencing Judge Neil McKittrick said the “highly dangerous” incident could have been much worse.

“People living in Ipswich know only too well the consequences when a car goes out of control and hits pedestrians,” he said.

Hayman was given a 40-week sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to undertake 150 hours unpaid work.

She was also disqualified from driving any vehicle for 12 months and told to pay �600 compensation to Mr Nolloth.

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