A MAN has been jailed after driving his car into his girlfriend’s ex-partner, causing him to believe he ‘was going to die’.

Thomas Parker, 32, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Monday (October 9) to one count of driving dangerously and one count of criminal damage which both occurred on March 20 last year.

The court heard that Parker, of Wakemans, Upper Basildon, had driven to Daniel Holton’s home in Calcot and threatened his son.

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He then got in a white transit van and attempted to drive into Mr Holton twice, causing him to fall into his own car, a Vauxhall Meriva, and damaging it.

Judge Hassan Khan jailed him for 14 months – he will serve half his sentence before being released on licence.

Opening the case, prosecuting barrister William Eaglestone explained that Mr Holton had a son with an ex-partner whom Parker was dating at the time.

At 8.55pm on the day of the incident, Parker knocked on Mr Holton’s door and was ‘in a rage’, shouting: “If your son touches me daughter again, I’m going to hit him.”

Mr Holton tried to close the door but Parker hit him in the face, leading to Mr Holton retrieving a baseball bat from upstairs and told Parker to get off his property.

Parker then got into a white transit van and ‘manoeuvred’ towards Mr Holton and his parked Vauxhall Meriva.

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He hit Mr Holton with force above the knees, causing Mr Holton to lift into the air and fall against his own car.

The damage to the car, alongside the damage caused to Mr Holton’s front door by Parker forcing it open, was estimated to be £1,199 with Mr Holton claiming the car has since been written off.

In a written victim impact statement, Mr Holton said: “I honestly believed I could have been killed. That day will live with me and my family for the rest of our lives.

“You can never forget someone threatening to kill you and then trying to kill you. It’s only through luck I’m alive today.”

Defending Parker, his barrister said he accepts his actions were ‘irresponsible and dangerous’ and that ‘a red mist descended and he couldn’t think properly, he was angry and frustrated.

She added that he was ‘disappointed in himself’ and has expressed ‘a significant amount of remorse’.

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Sentencing, Judge Khan said: “It was irresponsible, disproportionate, and dangerous. You must understand your actions could have caused serious injury or death.”