Van driver jailed for seven years for road rage sword attack

[dutchman]

The victim was attacked in front of his infant children by Barry Lawrence



A van driver stabbed another man with a SWORD during a vicious road rage attack in Coventry.

Barry Lawrence took the weapon from the back of his Transit van and inflicted the wounds as he argued with the other driver on a Sunday afternoon in August.

The attack took place in front of the victim’s terrified partner and two young children, aged six and three, who were also in the car which had been blocked by Lawrence’s van.

Lawrence, 43, from Aldermans Green Road, was jailed today for seven years after pleading guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

As part of his extended prison sentence, Lawrence will then serve a further two years on licence once he is released from prison.

Upon sentencing Lawrence at Warwick Crown Court, Judge Richard Griffith-Jones told him: “This was a very grave offence. It was something that didn’t just happen impulsively. It was over a sustained period.

“It’s a typical situation that arises when two motorists fall out about driving, but what you did then was to block [Mr Smith’s] path.

“He was there together with his partner and two infant children. You completely lost your temper and it culminated in you making a decision to get a sword from your vehicle.”

Lawrence also pleaded guilty to driving without a licence or insurance, but was given no separate penalty for these offences.