Man jailed after running down glass collector

Robert Pinkney

A man who lost control in a Bury bar before deliberately running another man down in a car has been jailed.

Robert Pinkney (born 30/03/1982) of Foxholes Road, Rochdale, hit the glass collector at the Coco Lounge with his car after he had been drinking earlier that evening.

Pinkney pleaded guilty to two counts of section 20 assault (causing grievous bodily harm), section 47 assault (causing actual bodily harm) and dangerous driving at an earlier hearing, and has today, Friday 17 September 2010, been jailed for two years.

He was sentenced to a further four years and nine months, making a total of six years and nine months overall, for unrelated drug matters.

At about 2.20am on Friday 8 May 2009. Pinkney and a friend were in the outdoor smoking area at the back of the bar when a woman knocked over an empty glass. Pinkney reacted aggressively, grabbed her by the back of the neck and spinning her round, before pushing her up against a wall with his hand around her throat and yelling at her.

Another man intervened to try and calm Pinkney down, but he was repeatedly punched in the face and required four stitches to close a cut to his lip as a result of the attack.

The club's doorman then ejected Pinkney from the bar, but he too was punched in the face and needed 18 stitches after suffering a cut to his lip.

Pinkney and his friend ran away and although they were chased by members of staff, they escaped.

About twenty minutes later, Pinkney's friend got into a black Ford Fiesta parked on Silver Street near the Coco Lounge, and drove off. He picked Pinkney up on Market Street, who got into the driver's seat by pushing his friend out of the way.

Pinkney then drove across the pavement and onto Broad Street, going the wrong way down a one-way street, before turning onto Silver Street where he accelerated towards two men stood in the road, one of which was the bar's glass collector.

One of the men managed to jump back and took refuge behind a parked car, but the glass collector was hit. Pinkney drove over him as he lay on the ground and then sped off. The car was later found abandoned in Lower Kersal.

The glass collector suffered up to nine broken ribs, a broken wrist and a fractured shoulder.

Detective Chief Inspector Lynne Vernon, of Bury CID, said: "When Pinkney turned violent and assaulted an innocent woman, it started a chain of events that ultimately led to him running someone over.

"Only Pinkney knows why he resorted to such behaviour, but there can be no excuse for losing control in this way. All too often, it is innocent bystanders who are caught up in such violence and people like Pinkney must be punished until the message sinks in that this sort of behaviour will land you behind bars.

"I would like to take this opportunity to stress that we work closely with licensed premises across Bury and licensees share our commitment to ensuring that people can enjoy a night out safely and in peace.

"It is always the minority like Pinkney that create an unwarranted and unfair reputation and we will continue to pursue violent criminals and lock them up."