Disqualified driver who nearly ran over five-year-old girl is jailed for 42 weeks
Disqualified driver who was caught on dashcam nearly running over five-year-old girl when he overtook car stopped at zebra crossing is jailed for 42 weeks
Louie Boyce, 22, has been jailed after he nearly hit a child at zebra crossing He overtook a car letting a family cross before revving vehicle and speeding off Dashcam video caught the dangerous driver in Castle Bromwich, West Midlands Boyce was jailed for 42 weeks and banned from driving for two years on Friday
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
A disqualified driver who was filmed nearly hitting a child on a pedestrian crossing after trying to overtake a stationary car has been jailed for 42 weeks.
Louie Boyce, 22, was caught on dashcam overtaking a vehicle which had stopped to let a family cross the road, before narrowly avoiding crashing into five-year-old who was on her scooter in May 2020.
Horrific footage showed the moment Boyce’s white Seat pulled forward before the girl’s stepfather, Jason Payne, heroically jumped in front to defend his scooter-riding daughter.
Uninsured Boyce then revved his engine and sped off from the scene of the incident in Castle Bromwich, West Midlands.
He was jailed for 42 weeks and banned from driving for two years at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, having earlier pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.
West Midlands Police initially released the footage on social media as part of a public appeal to identify Boyce, who subsequently handed himself in.
Boyce provided no comment answers throughout his police interview, but he was identified by several witnesses via the dash cam footage.
Ryan Hodgins, prosecuting, told the court that the family, including four children – aged ten, eight, five and three – had been out for a walk and were returning home.
Louie Boyce (pictured), 22, was on Friday jailed for 42 weeks following the heart-stopping incident in Castle Bromwich, West Midlands
The video showed traffic waiting on either side of the crossing, but a white Seat could be seen poking out from behind the first car in the queue.
As the family made their way across, the Seat zoomed forward directly into the path of Jason and Gracie, who hopped onto her scooter and rolled further towards the vehicle.
As the car showed no signs of slowing down, Jason threw himself towards the bonnet and slammed his hand on the windshield.
Gracie then jumped backwards while Jason criticised the driver for his actions.
Another clip, from a different angle, showed how perilously close Gracie came to the front of the car, which slammed on its breaks just in time to avoid the child.
The shocking scene caused outrage on social media after Gracie’s mother Elizabeth Mears decided to share the footage in the hopes of catching the driver.
She posted the video captioned: ‘My partner continues to bang on his bonnet to tell him to stop, but he continues to drive on apologising as he does so.
‘Nobody was hurt but we were all shaken up! Also thank you so much to the witnesses who gave us their dash-cam footage and helped calm us all down.’
Speaking afterwards, Ms Mears added: ‘We are all good now. My little girl was shaken up but was soon scooting back home, but she won’t forget it easily.
Mother Elizabeth Mears pictured with her five-year-old daughter, Gracie. Elizabeth said: ‘My little girl was shaken up but was soon scooting back home’
Ms Mears pictured with her partner and Gracie’s stepfather, Jason Payne. In the video he can be seen attempting to talk to the Boyce, who then revs his engine and speeds off
‘The driver just said ‘sorry’ and looked in the back of his car and said something about a chase.’
The dash cam video showed his car at the scene and he was identified by several witnesses.
Boyce’s white car emerges from behind as the girl’s father places himself in front of the vehicle, shielding his daughter (circled) away from the danger
West Midlands Police said the footage was released on social media at the time of the incident in May 2020 in an effort to identify Boyce (pictured), who handed himself in
PC Abbi Jones, from the Road Harm Prevention Team, said: ‘Boyce’s driving was dangerous, reckless and could have cost a young life.
‘Fortunately, on this occasion nobody was hurt.
‘The footage caused public outrage at the time and the online community pulled together to make sure that Boyce was identified and held accountable for his actions.
‘Officers from our Road Harm Prevention Team reached out to the victims having seen the footage and commenced the investigation which has led to this conviction.
‘I hope this serves as a warning that driving in this manner will not be tolerated on our roads and we will take action to hold those who drive dangerously accountable.’
