Mum and son jailed for ramming driver after 13-mile chase

A mother-and-son duo have been jailed for a revenge attack that led to a driver being rammed into a tree.

Hollie Dance, 50, and Thomas Summers chased the victim 13 miles (21km) from Westcliff-on-Sea to Basildon, Essex, on 10 October 2022.

It happened weeks after Dance buried her son, Archie Battersbee, whose death attracted global attention when his life support was switched off in 2022.

She was jailed for four years at Basildon Crown Court, while 26-year-old Summers received a prison sentence of five years.

Jurors took about three hours to find the pair, both of Alton Gardens, Southend-on-Sea, guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent in April.

They drove to Meteor Road in Westcliff after Dance's daughter falsely accused the victim of attacking her with a bottle.

Dance then tailed him in her BMW along the A127 to Basildon, while Summers followed in a rented Toyota.

Prosecutor Richard Scott said the victim made an "increasingly frantic" call to the police as he fled, but was rammed by Dance into a tree in Uppermayne, ejecting him from his red Peugeot.

"The car being driven by Thomas Summers [then] rammed into him and sent him into a bush," added Scott, saying they were motivated by "revenge".

The victim, a chef, suffered fractures to his shoulder and foot. In a statement, he dismissed claims he bottled Dance's daughter as "rumours".

"I have never understood why I was targeted that night, and I often find myself overthinking what happened," he added.

Dance, who had previous convictions dating back to 1996, was convicted of possessing an incapacitant spray found at the scene, having already admitted to dangerous driving.

Mitigating for her, Bibi Ihuomah said an expert described Dance as "a woman whose life had been profoundly damaged by a terrible event", referring to Archie, who died after a prank went wrong.

"She had been through five harrowing months," Ihuomah said.

Summers was also found guilty of affray. He had earlier pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

His counsel, Emily Lauchlan, said it was an "impromptu pursuit without forward thinking or planning".

Recorder Peter Clark said what happened to Archie was "desperately sad" and that "somebody assaulted and injured" Dance's daughter and Summers' sister while they were mourning.

But he concluded: "Two wrongs do not make a right, they never do. This was a determined, persistent, highly dangerous pursuit."

Clark banned both defendants from driving for two years after their release from prison.

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