A former football club chairman left disabled after being struck by a van has branded the sentence handed to the driver “absolutely shocking”.

Sam Callander – then boss of Herne Bay FC – is now a Blue Badge holder after suffering multiple pelvic injuries when he was knocked down in Whitstable on May 11.

The “short-lived, five-second” incident followed a heated row with construction firm boss Jamie Ingram at the John Wilson Business Park.

Ingram, who was at the wheel of the van, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, but was spared jail by a judge who decided the manoeuvre was not performed out of “malice, revenge or petulance” - as alleged by the prosecution - but in “panic, shock and stress”.

The 48-year-old was given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work.

Mr Callander has hit out at the sentence and described the legal system as “flawed”.

“Having community service, good for him - he’ll look like a clown but my injuries are lifelong so clearing up crap is not really a justifiable punishment,” he said.

“He’s affected me for life - I’ve got a rod going through my back and plate through my front. I could have died.

“I’ve now got Blue Badges. I’ve gone from being an ex-professional football player and now I can’t run at all at the moment. I can’t take my kids on a theme park ride – it’s lifelong.

“I think he’s been quite a lucky boy - 250 hours’ community service is absolutely shocking.”

Canterbury Crown Court heard Ingram had gone to hand the football boss invoices for work carried out at the club.

But CCTV footage showed that as Ingram manoeuvred the Ford Transit out of his space to leave, he struck Mr Callander with the van’s front offside and pushed him up against the side of his own vehicle.

Mr Callander had to have surgery to fit screws and a metal plate, and medical reports mentioned in court described a “satisfactory” recovery with ongoing physiotherapy.

He has been forced to give up football and coaching and is now a Blue Badge holder receiving Personal Independence Payment, the court was told.

Ingram, of Joy Lane, Whitstable, later pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving but on the basis his actions were “unintentional” and he was “unfamiliar” with the automatic vehicle, having only just hired it that morning.

This was not accepted by the prosecution, however, and a ‘trial of issue’ was required at which Ingram gave evidence solely to a judge without a jury.

Mr Callander was not called to give evidence and, having heard from Ingram and watched the CCTV, Judge Simon Taylor KC ruled in the defendant’s favour.

Imposing a 14-month jail term suspended for two years, as well as the unpaid work requirement, he told Ingram: “Your victim sustained very serious injuries which will inhibit him for his life. It was, on any objective view, a very dangerous piece of driving.

“But it only lasted for five seconds and your decision-making that led to you driving in that way would have been inhibited by the stress and panic you were feeling, having been subjected to an assault while simply delivering paperwork.”

The court heard Ingram had not met Mr Callander before the incident and had only communicated on “maybe two occasions” via email in respect of work his firm had carried out and for which the club owed money.

He said he had therefore gone to the chairman’s business premises that morning to hand over requested invoices he had not been able to previously send electronically.

Ingram told the court that as he needed to visit Screwfix on the same industrial estate, he decided to “kill two birds with one stone”.

The CCTV showed his van pulling up, forward facing, into a parking bay alongside Mr Callander’s larger van at about 8.50am.

Ingram then got out, opened the driver’s door and, he said, put the documents into the chairman’s hand.

The court heard Mr Callander later told police the paperwork had been thrown at him.

As the footage continued, it showed Mr Callander getting out of his vehicle and the two men standing face-to-face.

Ingram climbed back into his seat and the door was closed on his foot, rebounding open again.

Having managed to close it on the second attempt, he then tried to drive away. The footage showed him initially reversing before driving forwards and striking Mr Callander.

But Ingram maintained the impact had not been deliberate and that he thought the vehicle was still in reverse.

He told the court Mr Callander’s initial reaction to being given the invoices was to tell him to “F off” and “get back in your effing van.”

Asked by his barrister Anna Bond what was going through his mind, Ingram continued: “Just to get away from the situation. I just wanted to leave and get on with my day.

“He was extremely belligerent towards me and I didn’t want to be in that situation. I just wanted to get away,” he said.

“With anyone who is shocked and scared their decision-making and ability to pull off manoeuvres is going to be inhibited...”

He said as he reversed he thought he would hit Mr Callander or his van so changed direction on his steering wheel. It was then that the van could be seen to move forward and drive into him.

Ingram told the court the reason he could be seen to put his hand up was “to say sorry because I had made a mistake”. He then stopped his van “to make sure he was OK”.

He added that he did not recall changing from ‘reverse’ into ‘drive’.

“It all happened so fast I assumed I was just trying to manoeuvre the vehicle away,” said Ingram.

“I didn’t believe I was in ‘drive’. I believed I was still in reverse to make the manoeuvre to go around the vehicle and not to touch Mr Callander. I thought I was in reverse.”

Ingram denied Mr Callander’s account that he had said “I only done it because he was going to smash my head in”.

The court was told an independent witness reported hearing Ingram apologising at the scene and stating he thought the van was in reverse.

FInding in support of Ingram’s account, Judge Taylor ruled he had a “legitimate purpose” for seeing Mr Callander that day, was driving a “relatively unfamiliar” vehicle and was not aggressive towards his victim.

Furthermore, he said it was Mr Callander who had shown aggression.

“To use the colloquialism, he was in your face and backed you towards your van,” explained the judge.

“Your response was not to engage in aggression but to instantly retreat rather than react to it.”

Judge Taylor said Ingram had not reacted either to having the door “slammed” on his foot by Mr Callander as he went to leave.

Of Ingram’s driving itself, he added that the decision to change the direction of his van was “important evidence” as it demonstrated a wish to avoid contact and so would not have been undertaken if he were “displaying anger, petulance or malice” as alleged.

But although Judge Taylor added he “could not be sure” about Ingram’s evidence as to how the van went from ‘reverse’ into ‘drive’, he told him: “Whatever standard of driving you displayed at that point, it must have been against a background of someone being persistently aggressive towards you.

“You must have been shocked and scared and, as a matter of logic and common sense, with anyone who is shocked and scared their decision-making and ability to pull off manoeuvres is going to be inhibited.

“It is against that background I find the CCTV supports your case.”

Mr Callander, who relinquished his role as chairman a few weeks later as a result of his injuries, did not attend the hearing.

But the court was told he had been affected both physically and mentally, and could suffer pelvic pain for the rest of his life

“When I shut my eyes I can picture the van driving towards me,” he said in a victim impact statement read by prosecutor Nicholas Jones.

“Doctors have said I may not get all the feeling back.

“My hobby in life has been taken away from me. I will no longer be able to play football or coach children.”

Mr Callander also spoke of the “financial burden” he faced.

Ingram, who has no previous convictions, was ordered to pay £670 prosecution costs. He was also banned from driving for two years.

He had originally been charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, which he denied. This was accepted and ordered to be left on the court file.

Speaking after the sentencing, Mr Callander said he had not been given an opportunity to tell his side of the story.

“I asked to attend the proceedings but I was told it was not my place, that it’s not my case,” he said.

“I think the excuses Ingram has given are absolutely ridiculous.”

Additional reporting by James Pallant