Walsall man who left delivery driver paralysed jailed

A man who ran down an Amazon delivery driver and left him paralysed from the waist down has been jailed for 12 years.

Mitchell Rose, 27, of Redshank Road, Walsall was jailed today (14 November) at Stafford Crown Court for causing grievous bodily harm with intent after being found guilty following a trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on 10 September. He was cleared of attempted murder and conspiracy to steal.

The 23-year-old delivery driver, Chance Bright, is a former soldier and an aspiring police officer and was working his notice the week he was run down by Rose in a scrap van and dragged under the vehicle for approximately 95 metres before being left in the road in Coven on 4 March. Chance was delivering a parcel at the time before noticing someone had taken his van.

The delivery van was stolen by Brian Atkinson on Paradise Lane. Rose then followed behind and hit Chance when he sought help from him when he was chasing after his van. Chance suffered serious injuries including terrible scars on his back, arms and legs, significant muscle loss, a broken spinal cord and has been left unable to ever walk again for the rest of his life.

The delivery van was later tracked and located by police officers in Spring Lane in Walsall. The parcels that were inside the van, totalling to almost £3,000, were never found.

The pair made off from the scene but were tracked and stopped by colleagues from North Wales Police the next day after they were found in a car with two women.

Carol Davies, 39, of Yew Tree Road, Walsall, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender at an earlier hearing after she made arrangements for her brother, Rose, to get to Wales to evade capture. Emma Griffin, 34, of Field Road, Walsall, also pleaded guilty to assisting an offender after being found driving the four in the vehicle. Davies was sentenced to a 12 month community order and Griffin was given a four month suspended sentence for 18 months.

Atkinson, described by the judge as a "career criminal", was sentenced to 20 months after pleading guilty to theft at an earlier hearing and convicted at the trial of assisting an offender. He was cleared of conspiracy to steal.

Chance Bright said: “The trial has been an exceptionally difficult time for me and my family, and following the sentencing today, we now hope to be able to put this chapter behind us and move forwards.

“I am still in the early stages of my rehabilitation and recovery, and that is very much going to be my focus now.

“On that day my life changed forever. It will never be the same again, but I take every day as it comes now, and I try to stay positive for the future.”

Detective Constable Laura Turner, from force CID, said: “This was a selfish and thoughtless crime that has had a lasting impact on a young hardworking man who had the rest of his life still ahead of him. His life will never be the same again.

“I would like to say thank you to all of the members of the public and witnesses at the scene who helped with this thorough investigation.

“I am pleased that justice has been served. Our thoughts remain with Chance and his family and I hope they can try to rebuild their lives.”