Bournemouth dangerous driving spree sees man put behind bars

In a single morning, Ashley Hickson brought traffic chaos to main roads in Bournemouth.

During rush hour, the 29-year-old got behind the wheel of a car when a schoolboy was in the passenger seat.

He forced the child out of the vehicle before being confronted by the boy’s mother.

Hickson went on to trap her against another car and run over her foot as he tried to drive off from the scene.

Witnesses described him “swerving” across the road, crashing into vehicles and being on the wrong side of the road.

After dumping the car on the A338 Spur Road he got behind the wheel of another vehicle and drove in similar fashion, this time coming to a halt in a ditch near the A31.

Hickson, of Hesketh Close, St Ives, was found hiding injured in a bush.

At a Bournemouth Crown Court hearing on Thursday, May 18, Judge William Mousley KC said: “You embarked on a sustained period of dangerous driving in cars that did not belong to you.”

The judge said the defendant had “no consideration for any person’s safety”.

Referencing the spate of collisions Hickson caused, Judge Mousley KC said: “Substantial damage running into thousands was caused to those vehicles.”

Prosecutor Aleks Lloyd said shortly after 8am on January 25 police received reports from a woman that a man had driven off in her car while her son, who was a schoolboy, was in the passenger seat.

The court heard she had briefly popped back into her property while the car was heating up on the frosty morning.

Mr Lloyd said the boy ran into the home to alert his mother that the car had been taken after he had been thrown out of the vehicle by the defendant.

The woman rushed outside barefooted and went to the driver’s side of the Ford S-Max to confront Hickson.

The prosecutor said the defendant pushed her away with one hand while driving the car with the door open.

He crashed into a parked car with the mother “wedged” between the two vehicles.

While making off in the vehicle, Hickson drove over her foot, which started to bleed having suffered a broken heel.

The defendant eventually made his way onto Castle Lane West having smashed into the front gate of a property.

Hickson was described as driving “erratically” and “in a dangerous way”, colliding with multiple vehicles before making it onto the A338 Spur Road at Cooper Dean heading towards Blackwater junction.

Further crashes took place on the dual carriageway at speed, with the defendant making no attempt to slow down. A Mazda car was pushed off the road onto the grass verge, the court heard.

The aftermath of Hickson's driving on the A338 Spur Road (Image: Mark Smith)

The defendant abandoned the vehicle and ran off towards an area of housing before flagging down a taxi driver, who called police.

Hickson made his way to Tyrell Gardens and took a second vehicle, which the owner had left defrosting outside her home.

Mr Lloyd said she had popped back into her house to get her work bag before her son told her that he car was moving.

The woman looked out of the window to see Hickson reversing the car while looking at her before speeding off and making his way back to the A338 Spur Road.

By this point a police cordon was in place following the damage he had caused earlier that morning.

Hickson sped past other vehicles, driving over police cones and narrowly avoiding officers who were at the scene.

Police tried to pursue the defendant, who turned off the A338 at Blackwater junction and made his way towards Matchams Lane and Boundary Lane.

Officers located the vehicle crashed in a ditch at the corner of the caravan park and the A31 in St Leonards.

The court heard Hickson was found “hiding in some bushes” and “clearly in pain” by a police dog handler and their canine.

The defendant, who was believed to have been in drink, was taken to hospital but he refused to provide a sample of blood for analysis, telling police to '**** off'.

Ashley Hickson (Image: Dorset Police)

Various people whose vehicle’s were damaged by Hickson’s behaviour gave statements on his actions and the nature of his driving.

One man said the moment his car was hit by the defendant was “like the car had been dropped from the sky”, while another described it as “without doubt one of the most distressing experiences of my life”.

They added: “It was like a real-life version of the video game Grand Theft Auto.”

The defendant was also sentenced for stealing Jo Malone candles from John Lewis at Redlands in Poole, for having a phone while he was an inmate at HMP Guys Marsh last year and assaulting a prison officer by beating them.

Hickson admitted two counts of aggravated vehicle taking, two counts of dangerous driving, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of using a motor vehicle without insurance, failing to provide a specimen for analysis, theft, possession of a mobile phone in prison and assault by beating an emergency worker.

The court heard the defendant had 57 previous court appearances for 137 offences, which the judge said was a “major aggravating feature”.

Mitigating, Kevin Hill said Hickson suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following events in his childhood.

The defendant came out of his previous period of imprisonment “feeling positive” but he was “gate arrested” for an incident which took place in prison before being released on bail, Mr Hill said.

The barrister told the court this was a “real setback for him”.

While remanded in custody he was clean of drugs and drink and he was positive about the future again, the judge was told.

Mr Hill said the defendant had written an open and impressive letter to the court, which was acknowledged by the judge.

The judge told Hickson: “I hope you can maintain and sustain your determination to address what lays behind your offending and the significant and serious issues that you’ve had to deal with over the years.

“The time has come now for you to get this sentence served and then try to move on.”

Judge Mousley KC jailed the defendant for three years and disqualified him from driving for four-and-a-half years.