Police are trying to trace a driver who “used his van as a weapon” as he drove into a group of horses and riders, hitting two of them.
Sally Baker was one of the group riding on a single-track lane in Corley, Warwickshire, on Sunday (14 May).
She told H&H the riders asked the driver to wait.
“I could see he was coming quite fast so I asked him politely to slow down and pointed at a pull-in place, about 50 yards away,” she said. “I thought at one point he was slowing down, but then he made an ‘F-off’ gesture – and just drove straight through us like dominoes.”
Sally’s leg was badly bruised where it was caught by the van and another of the horses was hit but all escaped serious injury.
The incident was reported to West Midlands Police and officers are trying to find the driver concerned.
“He had no facial expression; he just carried on driving through us,” Sally said.
“My friend Louise was behind me, desperately trying to get out of the way and shouting: ‘Please stop, please stop’.
“Behind her were the kids – he was heading straight for my daughter Betty. She was quick-thinking and managed to get the horse to relative safety, and pushed Megan away from the van, but he clipped her horse too and drove off at speed. It was quite horrific; I can’t believe someone in his right mind would do such a thing.”
Sally said she heard from another two riders that minutes before the incident, a driver thought to be the same one was behind them, revving his engine and “trying to ram them”.
“He must have got annoyed with them, so he wasn’t going to wait for us,” she said.
“I think it needs highlighting that he used his van as a weapon. We got the numberplate so hopefully he’ll be caught; he needs to be caught.
“He intended to hurt us and do damage. Thank god for the horses; they were all incredibly calm and well-behaved.
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“Luck was on our side. It could have been, and probably should have been, a lot worse. Someone was looking after us that day.”
Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting as reference log 1919 of 14/5.
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