AssetID: 55079729
Headline: RAW VIDEO: Video captures moment pensioner deliberately drove into another senior citizen in gated residential community
Caption: WORDS BYLINE: KentOnline Court Reporter An angry pensioner drove his car into another senior citizen at the gated residential park where they lived - and it was all caught on camera. Anthony Fowles deliberately drove into the man in Peninsula Crescent in Hoo, after wrongly believing the victim was trying to harass him. The incident left the victim with ligament problems, and almost two years after being hit by Fowles’ vehicle, he is still having treatment for his injured knee. He and his wife have now moved away to get away from his attacker. Fowles, a retired sports photographer, said he drove into the pensioner because he believed he wasn’t being treated properly by the park residents’ association, which the victim was part of, over service charges. The park is within the grounds of Port Werburgh Marina. It has bungalow-style static homes for the over-50s next to the River Medway. The court heard the 70-year-old rammed the other pensioner on December 15, 2023, after driving up to him as he walked across the site. Fowles, of Peninsula Crescent, Hoo, was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and admitted the offence when he appeared in court in June. He returned to Medway Magistrates’ Court for sentencing on August 28. Terry Knox, prosecuting, told the court Fowles pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. Describing the incident, the prosecutor added: “The victim was walking on the road and made eye contact with Fowles, who drove past. “The defendant then passes and pulls up in an area and turns around and is shouting at the victim and then drives at a slow speed into him, injuring his knee.” The victim did manage to get to Fowles’ window and tried to grab his keys from the ignition to prevent him from driving further. Mr Knox added: “In interview, he made partial admissions and said he’d [previously] been threatened [by the victim]. “He said the victim was…from the residents’ association, and that they were harassing him. “I’ve asked the victim, who is at the back of the court, and he denies harassing him.” In a statement, the victim said the incident had impacted both his and his wife’s lives. They had initially changed the route they walked so they didn’t bump into Fowles but had since decided to move away because of what Fowles had done. He’d had to go to hospital as a result of being hit by the car. He still suffered pain and was continuing to have cortisone injections. Mr Knox added: “He’s still suffering tenderness and has ligament problems and a reduced stretch, and it’s still swollen. “I ask for a driving ban because it was an assault with a car.” CCTV of the incident was shown in court and showed Fowles in his car driving up to the victim and into him. It then showed the victim trying to grab the keys from the ignition before Fowles drives off. The prosecutor added: “It was a deliberate decision to drive into him, causing him injury.” Tahir Saeed, mitigating, told the court his client had not been charged with dangerous driving; actual bodily harm was the appropriate charge and while it was the court’s decision, a ban was not mandatory. He added: “He needs the car as he and his wife have mobility issues and need their car, it’s their lifeline. He has COPD, and his wife has arthritis. “He accepts responsibility for his actions. He acted in an abysmal manner and he’s embarrassed about his behaviour; it was sheer frustration.” The court was told the reason for Fowles’ actions that day was because he believed he was getting grief from the residents’ association, which the victim had been part of, over service charges at the site. He felt that people from the association were not treating him properly. Mr Saeed added: “Two years have elapsed, and there have been no other incidents.” Magistrates said they had taken Fowles’ early guilty plea into consideration, and as a result, were placing him on a 12-month community order, involving 10 rehabilitation sessions, and they were not banning him from driving. He was also placed under curfew for six months and must stay indoors from 7pm to 7am, Monday to Friday. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £114 and court costs of £85, and will pay what he owes at a rate of £20 a month.
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