A GRIEVING father has been jailed after he was overwhelmed by grief and ended up going on a three month-long crime spree.
Ross Norman, aged 23, was a hard working family man until his four-month-old son Tyler died from a heart condition in August last year.
He could not cope with the grief and after turning to drink and drugs he carried out 15 offences in the space of a few weeks.
He started with shoplifting but his offending escalated to attacks on the police and dangerous driving before he ended up using a car as a weapon in a random road rage attack on a stranger in Teignmouth.
Norman drove at a householder who had come out to investigate when he was driving up and down sounding his horn constantly at 1.55 am.
Town centre CCTV captured the moment when innocent victim Max Carter was thrown over the bonnet of the Ford Ka and suffered leg and head injuries that needed four stitches.
The incident happened just two weeks after Norman had been released on bail for another offence of dangerous driving in which he rammed three police cars in Alphington, Exeter.
Self-employed builder Norman, aged 23, of Carlton Terrace, Dawlish, admitted wounding, two offences of dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, assaulting police, resisting arrest, possession of cocaine and cannabis, and two of shoplifting.
He was jailed for a total of 19 months and banned from driving for two years by Recorder Mr Andrew Maitland at Exeter Crown Court.
He told him: ’In 2015, your life was struck by a tragedy. You were a young man with a partner and a child who was working hard and living his life correctly.
’When that child died suddenly in August, what followed over the next four months can only be explained by your depression and all consuming grief.
’My problem with this case is that on no less than five occasions when you were caught, you went on to commit further offences. I deeply regret I have to pass an immediate sentence.
’The offence of wounding is aggravated by your use of a car to cause the injuries.’
Mr William Hunter, prosecuting, said Norman had never been in trouble before he was arrested for shoplifting tools from Homebase in Newton Abbot on September 16 last year and found with a small amount of cannabis.
His next offence was on November 14 when police tried to stop his Ford Focus in Exeter in the early hours and a chase ensued which led to him being cornered in a cul-de-sac in Steeple Drive, Alphington.
Norman, who had no licence or insurance, rammed three police cars as he broke through a cordon and crashed shortly afterwards while being pursued through Marsh Barton. He had a small amount of cocaine.
Two days later he was arrested for shoplifting a drill from B&Q in Newton Abbot, and just over a week later police were called to his family home where he was threatening to commit suicide.
He locked himself in a room and held police at bay for over two hours. When officers broke down the door, he spat at one of them and resisted others.
Mr Hunter said Norman admitted all these offences when he appeared before Plymouth Magistrates on December 2 and was bailed with an overnight curfew and an interim driving ban.
He broke both when he went out on December 15 in the early hours of the next day and alarmed residents in Northumberland Place by repeatedly driving up and down, sounding the horn and shouting abuse.
Mr Hunter said: ’Some residents came out to ask what he was doing. He drove off but returned very shortly afterwards. Max Carter was stood in his doorway when Norman reversed into a wall.
’Mr Carter went towards the middle of the road and was 15ft or so from the front of the car when it was driven forward at speed. He tried to get out of the way but was hit, thrown over the car, and knocked unconscious.’
He suffered leg and head injuries which needed hospital treatment and led to him taking time off his job as a tree surgeon. Norman was arrested shortly afterwards with a small amount of cannabis in his pocket.
He told police he panicked while trying to get away from a crowd of residents in the street.
Mr Brian Fitzherbert, mitigating, said Norman’s life had fallen apart after the death of his baby son Tyler but he had been reluctant to seek the help he needed.
He split up with his partner, moved back in with his mother, and started abusing alcohol and drugs. He was also unable to work because of a back injury.
He said: ’One year ago he had no convictions. He was working, in a stable relationship and the proud father of a new born baby. He lost it all in the space of months after the death of his son Tyler.
’On the night of December 16 he drove to Teignmouth to confront somebody he believed was threatening him and his mother.
’In reality, he had lost himself in grief and when he was arrested he said that going to prison was like having a weight lifted off his shoulders.’