Spectators who were injured at an unofficial car “cruising” meet when a vehicle ploughed into the crowd have expressed anger that the driver has been allowed to keep his licence.
Seventeen people were injured when 20-year-old Christopher Budd’s modified Ford Fiesta collided with members of the crowd at the event in a DIY store car park.
Budd was cleared of dangerous driving by a jury at Plymouth crown court but found guilty of careless driving. He was not banned but was handed three penalty points and told to pay a £500 fine and £500 costs.
Speaking outside court, one 17-year-old hurt in the incident said: “I think what he got was pathetic. Normally people get three points on their licence for going over the speed limit or parking in the wrong bay.”
The court heard that spectators were left screaming and covered in blood as the car ploughed into the crowd during the meeting in July last year.
About 100 vehicles attended the Saturday night event and the crowd included young children and infants in prams.
Some cars were performing stunts such as “burn-outs” in which drivers spin the wheels of the car on the spot. Budd denied he performed any such manoeuvres and said he was driving at 20mph when his foot slipped off the brake pedal.
After the collision he sped away from the scene because he “feared for the lives” of himself and his passenger at the hands of an angry crowd, he told the court. The incident was caught on footage filmed on mobile phones – with some of the images posted on social media within hours.
Recorder Ian Lawrie told Budd: “You realise you could have killed someone. The injuries were relatively minor compared to what they could have been.”
He said a driving ban would be a step too far because of Budd’s previous good character, youth and the unusual circumstance surrounding the offence.
Budd, a labourer from Liskeard, Cornwall, told the judge he was no longer attending meets and did not even have a car.
A mother of two boys injured in the accident said: “I think it is disgraceful and disgusting. It is just a slap on the wrist. He should have been given a driving ban. I got three points for going just over the speed limit past a camera.”
A dangerous driving charge against Budd’s friend, Ryan Swaddling, 23, from Ivybridge, Devon, was thrown out by the judge.
