Mother and son "sought revenge" in mistaken identity attack in Essex
Hollie Dance, 50, and her son Thomas Summers, 26, have been jailed after running a man's car off the road, wrongly believing he'd attacked a family member
A mother and son who ran another driver off the road after suspecting he was involved in a bottling incident that left a family member hurt have been jailed for four years and five years respectively.
Hollie Dance, 50, drove a BMW in October 2022 as she tailed the victim’s Peugeot from Southend to Basildon in Essex before running him off the road.
Dance is the mother of Archie Battersbee, who died aged 12 in August 2022 after a High Court battle, and her mitigation highlighted the “harrowing months” she had been through before her offending.
Prosecutor Richard Scott told Basildon Crown Court the other driver was “run off the road by Hollie Dance, forcing him into a tree” and throwing him from the vehicle.
Her son Thomas Summers, 26, who was driving a hired Toyota, then “rammed into (the man) and sent him into a bush”, Mr Scott said.
The prosecutor said the man suffered injuries including a fractured and dislocated shoulder and a fracture to his foot.
Mr Scott said the background to the incident was that the defendants, both of Southend, “believed the complainant in this case had been involved in an incident in which another member of their family had been hurt”.
He said the family member was Dance’s daughter, sister of Summers.
The man said he was “aware there were rumours I had bottled someone prior to the collision”, in a victim impact statement summarised by the prosecutor.
“I can confirm this is not true, this is something I would not have done,” the man said.
Both defendants were found guilty after an earlier trial of causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent.
Dance pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was found guilty of possessing a prohibited weapon – a gas canister.
Summers pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and was found guilty of affray.
Archie Battersbee died after his life support was withdrawn following failed bids to overturn a High Court ruling that doctors could lawfully do so.
An inquest later concluded the boy, who was found unconscious with a ligature over his head at home in Southend, died accidentally in a “prank or experiment” that went wrong and had not intended to harm himself.
Bibi Ihuomah, for Dance, said an expert described the defendant as “a woman whose life had been profoundly damaged by a terrible event”.
She continued: “She had been through five harrowing months.
“In the sixth month, which was August, her son’s life support was withdrawn.
“The night before the offences she had been assessed regarding her mental health status.”
Archie’s funeral took place on September 13 2022 and Ms Ihuomah said “weeks after the burial of her son these offences were committed”.
Mr Scott said Dance had previous convictions including for actual bodily harm (ABH) in 1996 and drink-driving in 2017.
Emily Lauchlan, for Summers, said it was an “impromptu pursuit without forward thinking or planning”.
The judge, recorder Peter Clark, told the defendants the loss of Archie was “desperately sad” and that afterwards “somebody assaulted and injured your daughter and your sister”.
He said there are “correct ways to respond to unlawful behaviour”.
“Your response was completely unlawful, you sought revenge,” he told them.
He added that “all the evidence suggests you sought revenge against a person wrongly identified as the perpetrator”.
He sentenced Dance to four years in prison and banned her from driving for 43 months.
He jailed Summers for five years and ordered a four-year driving ban.
Dance blew a kiss to the public gallery as she was led to the cells on Friday, while Summers made a peace sign when he was led down separately afterwards.