Dudley road rage driver jailed after punch left man fighting for life
A driver who jumped out of his car and punched a father of six during a road rage attack was today starting a 20-month jail sentence.
The attack, which followed pedestrian Paul Currie urging driver Samuel Pagett to slow down, left Mr Currie fighting for his life.
The victim, a former army corporal with the Staffordshire Regiment, had been walking back to his home on the nearby Holly Hall estate, in Dudley, after playing darts with friends at The Woodside pub on January 13.
He saw a car, driven by Pagett, driving at speed along Newland Grove and gestured and shouted at him to slow down.
But Wolverhampton Court Court heard Pagett stopped his car suddenly, before stepping from the driver's seat to deliver a single blow which floored 41-year-old Mr Currie.
The victim was in an induced coma for three days and stayed in hospital for 11 days after the assault and he remains unable to return to his job as a lorry driver after the roadside attack which has left him needing ongoing medical treatment.
Pagett, aged 25, of Cot Lane, Kingswinford, who worked as a car valeter, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Currie.
Jailing him for 20 months at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday Judge Amjad Nawaz said: "These are life changing injuries.
"I have not doubt that Mr Pagett did not foresee these consequences when he got out the car."
The court heard Mr Currie was now under going physiotherapy due to problems walking and had lost his sense of smell and taste following the attack.
Miss Blondelle Thompson, prosecuting, said Mr Currie had called out to Pagett, saying 'you are going too fast' moments before he was assaulted. Mr Andrew Thompson, defending, described Pagett's actions as 'a moment of madness' but said Pagett had shown remorse for his actions and pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity.
But the victim's family have revealed their dismay at the sentence.
Following the hearing, Mr Currie's mother Mary Hill, aged 62, said: "The sentence is absolutely disgusting. What about Paul's family and what they have been through.
"Where is the justice in that sentence. What about the stress caused to his family as we had to go up the hospital afterwards to see him."
His step-father Malcolm Hill, aged 67, also also attended the hearing, added: "It has deprived him of his livelihood and changed his life."
