Cambridgeshire motorist who drove at female runner given suspended sentence

Jamie Oliphant drove his silver Audi A3 onto a footpath in Green End Road, Sawtry, towards a runner causing the woman to jump into a hedge and scream on the morning of 27 June last year (2020).

He laughed at the woman before making off at speed through the village failing to slow down for speed bumps. A short while later he lost control and his car ended up on the driveway of a property in Green End Road narrowly missing the home.

Oliphant, 28, apologised to the resident before walking 12 miles home. It was at around 7pm the next day that he called police to enquire about getting his vehicle back. He claimed he’d lost consciousness after the incident and that there had been a fault with the vehicle.

At Peterborough Crown Court yesterday (7 April) Oliphant, of Coxons Close, Huntingdon, was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and failing to stop. He must carry out 90 hours unpaid work and pay the runner £500 in compensation.

Oliphant has also been disqualified from driving for three years.

PC Ben Patten from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Road Policing Unit, said: “Oliphant’s driving was dangerous and he showed a complete disregard for the safety of other road users.”