Man who drove into crowd at speed jailed

A man who went on the run after deliberately driving at a group of people outside a nightclub has been jailed.

Callum Russell hit multiple people with his car during the attack in Sutton Coldfield on 22 March 2024, including an 18-year-old man who was left with serious leg injuries.

Russell left the country by ferry the following month and remained on the run until August last year, when he was arrested entering the country at Birmingham Airport from Spain.

The 28-year-old, from Sutton Coldfield, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and wounding in January and was jailed for four years and one month at Coventry Crown Court on Thursday.

On the night of the attack, Russell had been out with friends and drove them to a venue in Birmingham Road, Sutton Coldfield.

Inside the bar, the group got involved in a fight and then drove to another bar in Mill Street.

Once there, Russell's two friends got out and went inside while he stayed behind in the car and drove back to Birmingham Road, where a large group of people were standing.

He drove towards the group at speed, throwing the 18-year-old man over the bonnet and windscreen of the car.

Afterwards, Russell abandoned the car in nearby Kathleen Road before heading back to Mill Street on foot to rejoin his friends.

CCTV showed him laughing and miming the action of steering a wheel with his friends.

PC Rachel Browne from West Midlands Police described it as a "truly shocking" act "which could have killed not only the young man involved, but the other members of the public in the crowd".

She said: "The man Russell injured was completely innocent and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"The true reason for what happened might never be known, as Russell never gave any explanation for what happened, and the fact he fled the country showed his criminal intent."

Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.