A MAN has been jailed for five years and four months after driving at speed at a crowd of people outside a Bradford pub and seriously injuring an innocent bystander.

Craig Baldwin “completely lost his cool” after he was assaulted outside the Sun Hotel on Sunbridge Road, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

Baldwin, 32, ran into Cameron Craven causing an open fracture of his ankle that was treated by paramedics at the scene and then at Bradford Royal Infirmary, prosecutor Soheil Khan said.

Baldwin, of Prescott Court, Manchester, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and dangerous driving at 1am on April 6, 2018.

The court heard that Mr Craven was standing outside the pub having a cigarette when a heated argument broke out in the street and fighting spilled into the road.

Mr Craven tried to intervene to stop the violence but failed to do so. He was standing on the corner watching when Baldwin, wearing a ripped shirt, ran to a silver Jaguar parked close by, Mr Khan said.

He turned the car round and drove at speed towards the people outside the pub.

The vehicle struck Mr Craven on the leg fracturing his left ankle. He needed surgery and skin grafts and he is still limping and having treatment, the court was told.

Ian Cook said in mitigation that Baldwin had previously offered to plead guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

“This was a short piece of dangerous driving and a short distance of dangerous driving,” Mr Cook said.

Baldwin was not drink-driving and he did not go out with the intention of causing any trouble.

Mr Cook said there was “an uneasy atmosphere” in the pub that night with a group intent on causing trouble. They began by stealing drinks and then took phones, a handbag and Baldwin’s keys.

There was a confrontation outside and he was seriously assaulted, suffering a fractured arm, fractured ribs and multiple cuts and abrasions to his face.

Mr Cook said Baldwin was taken by the police to hospital for treatment.

“He was significantly assaulted and he completely lost his cool in an appalling fashion that he accepts,” he added.

Mr Craven was not part of the group but “an unfortunate bystander.”

Baldwin, the father of a daughter, had completed a creative writing course in his cell while locked up for 23 hours a day on remand for the past five months.

He had previously worked as a self-employed carpenter but he was finding success with his children’s stories and hoped to turn his talent into a new career, Mr Cook said.

Recorder Jeremy Hyam QC said Baldwin was using his vehicle as a weapon and in anger, intending to cause serious injury. He went on to hit a lamppost and damage another vehicle on Tetley Street.

 “This was wanton and dangerous conduct,” he said, causing terror outside the pub and damage to a Mercedes car.

The recorder accepted it was a single collision rather than a sustained attack after Baldwin was injured and became enraged.

Baldwin was banned from driving for four years and three months and until he takes an extended retest.