Mum wipes tears as she's jailed with boyfriend after road rage machete attack
A mum could be seen wiping away tears in court as she was jailed with her boyfriend for a road rage assault which left a man with a gaping wound on his arm.
The victim suffered a cut so deep that it reached the bone after the machete attack by Rory Pearson in Bidston, Wirral, on June 15 this year. Chelsea Mighall had called in Pearson to help her out after becoming incensed behind the wheel, with the couple pursuing Peter Hamlet in separate cars.
Henry Riding, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court how Mr Hamlet and partner Tammy Winstanley were heading home along the "busy" route with their nine-year-old daughter when Mighall pulled out in front of them from shops on their right-hand side in her grey Nissan Qashqai, forcing them to "slow to a stop".
Ms Winstanley beeped her horn in response, after which Mighall, from Bidston in Merseyside, got out of her car and shouted a "torrent of abuse". The 35-year-old reportedly told the other woman at this point: "I'm gonna punch your head in you fat cow." Ms Winstanley then "advanced towards her" and aimed a blow at her before Mr Hamlet got out of their vehicle and pulled her away.
All three then got back into their cars and drove off in the same direction, before Mighall made "repeated contact" by phone with Pearson, speaking to him in 16 separate calls. Mr Riding said of this: "She was clearly seeking to detain the witnesses or, if she could not detain them, to pursue them and slow them down whilst reporting their location to her partner and co-accused, Rory Pearson, until such time as her co-accused could get to their location take up the chase and, no doubt, attack one or both of them."
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He then arrived at the scene in a black Renault Captur, with both boyfriend and girlfriend then pursuing Ms Winstley and Mr Hamlet. The car chase concluded with Pearson chasing Mr Hamlet down the road with a "sizeable machete". The dad was left with a "very large gash, down to the bone" to his left forearm as a result of the assault, and suffered a separate large wound to his right palm, with his fingers appearing broken to medical staff.
Paul Wood, appearing on behalf of Mighall, told the court that she "wasn't aware of the machete" and she too was unaware of the presence of a child. He described how the former carer had found prison "absolutely horrific", having been there since mid-June.
Mighall later pleaded guilty to wounding without intent and dangerous driving. Appearing from HMP Styal, she was sat in tears with her head in her hands as she was imprisoned for two years and handed a 26-month driving ban. Pearson, of Arley Close in Beechwood, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and making threats with an offensive weapon. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was handed five years in prison plus an additional two-year licence period.
Sentencing, Judge Gary Woodhall told the mother-of-two: "It was sustained, bullying driving. It was undoubtedly intimidating and frightening. You were summoning your partner to the scene and trying to ensure that the other vehicle did not get away so that he could intercept and deal with the occupants. I am satisfied that you anticipated that violence would be used.
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