Oldbury drug user's jail term for running woman down in car is deserved, say top judges
A drug user who ran a woman down in his car after an £80 deal went wrong deserved every day of his jail sentence, judges have ruled.
Andrew Frank Lloyd Benain, 41, left the victim with a string of serious injuries after the attack in Ladywood, Birmingham, in September 2015.
He had been scouting for drugs in the area and had given the woman cash, but went after her in the belief the money was being stolen.
He followed her into a park off Duchess Road, hit her male companion with his car and then ran her over.
The woman was pulled up into the wheel arch as he drove away and was left screaming in pain with multiple fractures and bowel and bladder injuries.
Benain, of Bernard Road, Oldbury, did not end the assault there, returning with a tyre lever and then a hammer to threaten the pair.
Police were called and he reversed at speed at the two officers before escaping through a wooden fence.
He was eventually tracked down and jailed for 13-and-a-half years at Birmingham Crown Court for intentional GBH and dangerous driving last October.
At the Court of Appeal in London, he claimed that was too tough, but saw his case thrown out by three senior judges.
“This was a serious case, he used his car as a weapon,” said Mr Justice Lavender, sitting with Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb and Lady Justice Hallett.
“The sentence was neither wrong in principle, nor manifestly excessive.”
The appeal was dismissed.
