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A man who mowed down punters outside a pub before fleeing to Tenerife has been jailed for seven years.
Bradley Knapp, 27, fathered a child while on the run but was extradited to the UK and has now been handed an extended term which will see him spend two years on licence when he's released.
Bradley Knapp is arrested
Knapp had used a car as a weapon after a bust up in the Dartford pub ploughing into the group and injuring two of them.
The incident happened on October 11, 2019 near the Clipper Public House in a pedestrian-only zone when two men were injured after being struck by a blue Ford Fiesta.
The driver Knapp, went on the run after the late night incident and fled to Tenerife. He was driven to the Port of Dover by an associate. He was eventually extradited after being arrested by Spanish police.
Before his trial he had admitted causing grievous bodily harm to one of the men, Callum Walpole, but denied two charges of attempting murder.
A jury cleared him by majority decision.
They were shown footage of the moment the vehicle struck the group - "flinging" one of the victims over another parked car.
It was part of a 14 minute 37 second compilation of incidents which took place in and near the pub.
Prosecutor Simon Taylor QC told the jury during Knapp's trial: "This took place in a pedestrian zone and was a deliberate act of aggression. He accelerated, speeding towards a group of pedestrians, the car being used as a deadly weapon."
Knapp had been caught on camera entering the pub with two women and walking past pub goer Sean O'Flaherty, who was dancing with other people.
He was then shown getting into the driver's seat, successfully negotiating bollards near the pedestrian zone and accelerating towards the group - before ploughing into a parked Mercedes.
The prosecutor said some of the people managed to jump out of the way but Mr Walpole "was flipped into the air and landed on the other side of a parked car. Mr Sayer was clipped and fell to the ground."
Knapp was on bail at the time after being involved in a police chase in Swanscombe, when officers spotted him at the wheel of a stolen car and inhaling nitrous oxide from a balloon.
The incident was just a couple of months before the attack at the Clipper - when Knapp had a provisional licence and had only four or five lessons.
Knapp, who had been living in Gravesend at the time, said: "I was in a rage. I had been glassed. It all happened so quickly. There were multiple men coming from all directions. I believe I threw and received punches.
"I wanted to drive at them. I was in a panic. I wanted to get Sam and me out of the situation. I wanted to hurt them but I didn't want to kill them. I had just been attacked."
Defence barrister Danny Moore asked if, during the four seconds of driving, did he think of the consequences.
He replied: "I didn't want to kill anyone. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in jail. I remember the car hitting the first person. I don't remember hitting the second person.
"I feel horrible, remorseful. I drove a car to hurt someone but not to kill anyone."
Sentencing Knapp Mr Justice Cavanagh told him: "You could have easily killed someone. I believe you are a danger to the public. This was recklessness in the extreme."
He revealed that while awaiting sentence he had been involved in a number of violent incidents in prison and the judge rejected Knapp's claims of remorse.
Knapp was also banned from driving for four years and three months.
Following Knapp's flight to Tenerife another man was jailed for helping him escape the country.
Mr Moore today revealed that while on the run Knapp worked and met a woman with whom he now has a child.
After the sentencing, Detective Constable Mike Rake, Kent Police’s investigating officer for the case, said: "Knapp committed a senseless and excessive act of violence that could have easily had fatal consequences.
"Whatever provocation he may have felt he had experienced, there are no mitigating circumstances for using such force – force which led to two innocent people being injured.
"His willingness to use such violence, coupled with his failed attempt to escape justice, shows him to be an exceptionally dangerous offender and I am pleased he has now faced justice."
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