Thug fled to Tenerife after road rage machete attack in front of victim's child
A man fled to Tenerife after hunting a dad down and attacking him with a machete in front of his nine-year-old daughter.
Peter Hamlet had been the front seat passenger in a brown Vauxhall Meriva being driven in Bidston, Wirral, by his partner Tammy Winstanley at around 6pm on June 15 this year, with their little girl having been sat in the back of the car, when they were confronted by a road rage driver. Chelsea Mighall in the other car, called in her boyfriend Rory Pearson to race to her aid.
The couple then raced through the streets in their separate cars as they pursued Mr Hamlet, whose daughter watched on terrified as they cornered her dad in a pub car park and attacked him. They left him with a gaping wound to his arm, which cut as deep as the bone. Mighall was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm but Pearson fled to Tenerife after the attack. He returned to the UK on Monday, July 10 and he was arrested at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
(Facebook)Both appeared before Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, September 15, for sentencing. Henry Riding, prosecuting, described how the family was heading home along the "busy" route when Mighall pulled out in front of them from shops on their right-hand side in her grey Nissan Qashqai, "pushing her way" in and "forcing them to slow to a stop", the Liverpool Echo reports.
Ms Winstanley beeped her horn as a result, at which the other driver stopped and got out of her vehicle. She too exited her car at this. Mighall, of Bidston, was then said to have "shouted a torrent of abuse" and been "very aggressive and threatening". The 35-year-old reportedly told the other woman at this point: "I'm gonna punch your head in you fat cow."
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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. Shortly afterwards, Mighall pulled into the outside lane as they approached a roundabout and overtook the other vehicle before re-entering the inside lane.
Chelsea Mighall was jailed for two years and given a 26-month driving ban (Merseyside Police)Ms Winstanley then turned into the right-hand lane in order to overtake the Nissan, but she was stopped from doing so when the other car performed the same manoeuvre. Mighall again blocked her upon pulling back into the left-hand lane before "remaining stationary for some seconds", preventing the Vauxhall from entering the junction. At this stage, Mr Hamlet got out of their vehicle "to chase away" an unknown male on a bicycle who "for reason, unknown appeared to have joined in directing abuse towards the witnesses" including allegedly shouting: "Chop them up."
Ms Winstanley subsequently stopped alongside Mighall on the roundabout due to the traffic, at which point the latter's door "opened momentarily" before quickly closing again as the other car drove off. She then "managed to keep pace" with their vehicle on its offside, "thereby preventing them from exiting the roundabout". After performing a full lap, Ms Winstanley managed to take the exit leading to Moreton. But Mighall "pursued her" for around 1.7 miles from Bidston to Moreton, including following them down a side road as they "attempted to shake her off".
It was at this time that she overtook them at speed and blocked their path, forcing them to perform a U-turn. The chase then continued back towards the main road. But Mighall had been in "repeated contact" by phone with Pearson during the course of the incident, 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." He then arrived at the scene in a black Renault Captur, with both boyfriend and girlfriend then pursuing Ms Winstley and Mr Hamlet.
As they reached a roundabout, the complainants turned down a side street and onto a car park at the back of the Coach and Horses pub. They were "followed closely" by Pearson, who blocked their exit and then got out of his vehicle armed with a "sizeable machete" in his right hand.
Dashcam footage showed him chasing Mr Hamlet down the road while swinging the blade at him as he caught up with him. Pearson - who was appearing in court on the day before his 34th birthday on Friday, September 15 - later claimed that he had the weapon in his car as he was "going fishing that night" and it would be used as a tool to "chop wood to make fires".
He then got back into his vehicle, with Mighall arriving on the scene "in a matter of seconds" from the opposite direction. Mr Riding added: "She may have arrived seconds too late to witness the attack upon Mr Hamlet, but the crown say her motive was clear. It was to cut off the witnesses' escape in a pincer movement." Mr Hamlet was left with a "very large gash, down to the bone" to his left forearm as a result of the assault. He also suffered a separate large wound to his right palm, with his fingers appearing broken to medical staff.
Pearson has a total of 10 previous convictions for 20 offences, including receiving suspended sentences for threatening behaviour in 2012 and battery and using violence to secure entry to a premises in 2016 as well as being handed a community order for harassment in 2015.
Mighall's record meanwhile shows two convictions for 13 offences, being given community orders for failing to stop after an accident and careless driving in 2016 and obstructing police in 2018.
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David Birrell, defending the former, said that his client had not been aware of the girl being present in the back of the Mr Hamlet's car. He added that the dad-of-two had previously acted as a full-time carer to his elderly grandma and has been working as a wing cleaner since being remanded into custody.
Paul Wood, appearing on behalf of Mighall, meanwhile told the court that she "wasn't aware of the machete" and she too was unaware of the presence of child. He described how the former carer had found prison "absolutely horrific", having been serving since mid-June.
Pearson 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 plus an additional two-year licence period. Mighall pleaded guilty to wounding without intent and dangerous driving. Appearing from HMP Styal, she was sat in tears with her head in her hands after being imprisoned for two years and given a 26-month driving ban.
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