Driver who ran over man who shouted homophobic abuse jailed for 12 years
Aaron McDonald has been found guilty of assault after the incident in Manchester's Gay Village.
By Steve Brown
A driver who ran over another man after being subjected to homophobic abuse has been jailed.
Aaron McDonald had been out in Manchester’s Gay Village with a friend and while walking through the city, he got involved in an altercation with the victim.
The jury heard McDonald overheard the man call a woman a “stupid slut” and he intervened saying, “There’s no need for that”.
The man then hit and kicked McDonald and called him a “f****t boy”, the court heard.
McDonald said he then got into his car to get away from the situation and in a “state of panic” he “drove off at speed”.
While driving away, he stopped behind a taxi which was letting pedestrians cross.
CCTV footage showed him accelerating and driving around the car before hitting the same man he argued with earlier.
The man was thrown up the windscreen – which was smashed – and McDonald applied the brakes causing the man to fall to the ground. McDonald then drove over the man, the court heard.
After driving a short distance, he stopped and walked home on foot but when he was arrested he admitted he knew why.
He allegedly said: “I know why you are here. I know what I have done.”
McDonald told police he wasn’t drunk despite having a few drinks that night and admitted he drank the best part of a bottle of wine after the incident.
Now, the Manchester Evening News report he has been found guilty of section 18 assault and has been jailed for 12 years at Manchester Crown Court.
Detective Constable Matt Cooper, of GMP’s City of Manchester Division, said: “McDonald’s decision to get in his car despite having been out drinking put the lives of not only the people he targeted in danger, but everyone walking on that street that morning.
“Getting into a car under the influence of alcohol and with the intention of using it as a weapon is completely unacceptable and he is lucky that he didn’t kill the man he drove into.
“He will now have to spend the next 12 years living with the consequences of his actions.”