AssetID: 55778586
Headline: Horror moment drunk driver deliberately rams woman in ‘revenge’ attack
Caption: The moment a drunk driver deliberately rammed a female motorcyclist who “grassed him up” was caught on CCTV. Thomas Hilditch was more than twice the legal limit when he ploughed into the back of the woman’s vehicle on a country road in Maidstone on March 14. The 35-year-old fled the scene but was later charged with drink-driving, failing to stop after an accident, driving without insurance, driving without a licence and possession of cocaine. Hilditch, of Stocket Lane, East Farleigh, Maidstone admitted all the offences when he appeared in the dock at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on June 8. Victoria Aked, prosecuting, said: “The motorbike rider was given a roadside breath test and came back as zero.” The court heard officers got the registration number of the vehicle, a silver Volkswagen Passat, and found out where the driver lived. The prosecutor added: “They found the vehicle in East Malling, and there was front-end damage to it. He was in the car, and the keys were in the ignition. He stumbled over and was given a breath test. He had cocaine in his pocket. “In custody, he said they had fallen out [him and the victim] and that ‘she had grassed him up’. He was driving on an expired licence. The motorcycle went up in the air, and he drove off to save his skin.” The court heard that when he gave a breath reading, he was found to have 87 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath; the legal limit is 35. Magistrates were also told Hilditch had a previous conviction for drink-driving in 2008 and that the motorcyclist had a “sore bottom” at the very least. The court heard Hilditch had turned to drink and drugs after a long-term relationship had broken down, and he had had no contact with his son for three months. However, despite making a rash decision to drive, he was now in a new relationship and had forgotten to update his licence. The bench decided to place Hilditch on a 12-month community order, which will involve him carrying out 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also banned from driving for 22 months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £114 and £85 in court costs. He was given 28 days to pay the amount in full. If Hilditch completes a drink-driving course, his ban will be reduced by a quarter. He received no separate penalty for the Class A drug offence, but magistrates ordered the cocaine to be destroyed.
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PersonInImage: The deliberate crash was caught on CCTV