Landscape gardener drove van into two teenagers

Benjamin Allerton, 25, told the teens “You’ve got five seconds to run”, before flattening their tent and ploughing into the boy and a girl as they ran away.

Allerton, of Selby, plotted the attack in retaliation after he got into an argument with their friends, York Crown Court was told.

He had approached the group of youths, who were drinking and camping in a field in the nearby village of Barlby in April, and joined their party.

He drove his van into the field, took out a chainsaw and felled some trees for a bonfire, which he stoked with petrol from his van, setting his chainsaw on fire.

One member of the group described him as “out of his head, falling over and slurring”, Andrew Dallas, prosecuting, told the court yesterday.

But the atmosphere turned sour when he tried to put his arm around a 13-year-old girl.

A fight broke out and Allerton was punched to the ground, Mr Dallas told the court.

Allerton “sat there crying” before he was bundled into his van and told to leave. But he then drove around Selby, hatching a plan to “flatten the camp”.

“About 30 to 45 minutes later, they were alerted to the roar of a vehicle approaching,” the prosecutor said.

He drove across the field at around 30mph but missed the tents, veering head-on into a riverbank before turning round.

Mr Dallas added: “According to the witnesses, he got out of the van and shouted words to the effect of ‘You’ve got five seconds to run’.”

One girl “heard the defendant shouting out a countdown” as the group scattered for cover among trees.

Allerton, who ploughed into a tent after taking another run-up, drove at a 13-year-old girl and boy of 16 as they fled, running over the boy’s arm and clipping the girl.

The 16-year-old suffered a fractured arm and shoulder. He spent three days in hospital and now has a metal plate and screws in his arm.

The girl suffered bruising on her limbs but was not seriously hurt.

“He admitted that his intention was to deliberately injure them,” Mr Dallas said, adding that Allerton was around twice the drink-drive limit when breathalysed the next day but claimed he was within the limit at the time of the incident.

Allerton was initially charged with two counts of attempted murder but at yesterday’s hearing he admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and attempting to cause GBH with intent and the original charges were dropped.