Man jailed after deliberately driving into people outside nightclub on Christmas Eve

Police said Lee Clarke ‘turned his car into a weapon’

Lee Clarke pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and two counts of assault (Lancashire Constabulary)

A man has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail after deliberately driving into people outside a Lancashire nightclub on Christmas Eve.

Police said 23-year-old Lee Clarke decided to "turn his car into a weapon" following an altercation with two people, a man and a woman, in a nearby pub.

The man was subjected to racial abuse during that incident and both he and the female victim were threatened with violence.

After leaving the pub, the pair headed to Revival, a nightclub on Bacup Road in Rawtenstall, while Clarke got behind the wheel of his Volkswagen Golf.

While the pair were queuing outside the nightclub, Clarke deliberately drove his car at them.

Dashcam footage released by Lancashire Constabulary showed the car slowing down once the pair were in sight, before accelerating, mounting the kerb and hitting them both.

The car was then driven back up the road, almost hitting a member of the public and narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with another vehicle.

Clarke then drove the Golf up and down the road repeatedly, only stopping when a member of the public threw a metal gate at the car’s windscreen, police said.

Clarke appeared at Burnley Crown Court earlier this week and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He also pleaded guilty to unrelated dangerous driving and assault offences.

Detective Constable Melisa Chadwick, of East CID, said: “Clarke made the conscious decision to turn his car into a weapon and it is extremely fortunate that it did not result in the death of his completely innocent victims or a member of the public.

“This incident caused a great deal of concern in the community at the time and I am glad this case has now been brought to a conclusion and Clarke will have a considerable time in custody to think about the consequences of his actions and how much worse it could have been.”