Driver jailed for going on drunken rampage outside pub

A Rochdale man has been jailed after going on a drunken rampage outside a pub in Nottinghamshire and hitting multiple people with his car.

Joseph Joyce made a large crowd of people “run for their lives” by mounting the kerb and driving his car directly at them.

The 23-year-old assaulted two women and exposed himself to them after flying into a drunken rage during the random attack, before then jumping into his car and attempting to run multiple people over.

Joyce then attempted to ram a police car when officers arrived, and drove at double the speed limit, nearly crashing his car multiple times, before abandoning his vehicle and being arrested soon after.

Incredibly nobody was seriously injured, with only one woman suffering a sprained wrist from the incident.

Joyce approached the group of 15 people just after midnight on 15 May 2021, and tried to intimidate them by dropping his trousers and exposing himself, while shouting abuse.

After hitting one woman in the shoulder and pushing another woman to the floor, he then walked off and returned a few minutes later behind the wheel of his car.

It was then that Joyce, who was later found to be under the influence of alcohol, mounted the kerb and started to violently drive his car at people, causing the crowd to scatter and “run for their lives”, with two women knocked over by the car.

He then sped away when police arrived, driving 60mph through a 30mph zone, before damaging his car after hitting a curb and being arrested by police as he tried to escape on foot.

Joyce was charged with dangerous driving, assault by beating, drink driving, indecent exposure, affray, failing to stop for police, driving without a licence, driving without insurance and driving with false registration plates.

He appeared before Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday (8 February), where he was handed a 12-month prison sentence and was disqualified from driving for three years.

Sergeant Ryan Brown, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was an incredibly dangerous incident that was completely unacceptable, whichever way you look at it.

“Joyce subjected multiple people to a terrifying ordeal, with many of them literally having to run for their lives in order to avoid being hit by his car.

“It’s a miracle really that nobody was badly hurt as a result of this seemingly random attack, which also saw Joyce commit a number of other serious offences, including assault and indecent exposure.

“There is absolutely no place for this type of behaviour in our society."