Benjamin Griffiths pounced on the victim as she parked up her Citroen C3 on a hospital visit to see her husband
A woman was dragged out of her car by a man as she parked outside a Welsh hospital to visit her husband, a court has heard. Benjamin Griffiths, 35, then drove off in the vehicle before crashing into a Tesco delivery van.
A judge branded his driving “ridiculously dangerous”. Prosecutor Emmalyne Downing told Mold Crown Court on Wednesday how a 67-year-old woman was visiting her husband at the Heddfan hospital unit in Wrexham on May 13 this year.
She parked her car at about 2.15pm when the Griffiths approached. He shouted “give me your keys”, the court heard. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here.
The woman, in her driver’s seat, refused, thinking he was joking. But Griffiths shouted again and she refused again. Griffiths reached in, took the keys and grabbed her by the arm and got her out of the car.
She was shocked and terrified, the court heard. She then saw someone coming from reception and started shouting that someone was taking her car, said Ms Downing.
The witness saw the 67-year-old woman in distress. She opened the car door but Griffiths closed it “forcefully”. Griffiths drove forward, hit a post, reversed and hit a parked Range Rover car, then drove out of the car park.
He headed along Ruthin Road where a police officer on patrol saw him. The officer saw Griffiths’ car hit a Tesco delivery van and swerve into a bush.
In a statement the 67-year-old woman said she was in “total shock and disbelief”. After Griffiths shouted at her she started crying.
She told the court she was unable to sleep and had flashbacks and that she struggles to return to the car park as she doesn’t feel safe and has to have a friend with her when she visits her husband. Her vehicle was also written off.
In his statement the Tesco driver said he was left feeling anxious about driving which affects his work. In her statement the Range Rover driver said her vehicle used to belong to her late father and has sentimental value. It needs £2,000 repairs but she can’t afford them and will have to sell it.
Anna Price, defending, said of Griffiths: “He fully appreciates the impact of his actions and the potential impact of his actions. He was lucky there was not more damage or significant injuries or maybe worse.” He has had poor mental health since he was a child, she said.
She added: “He voluntarily chose to take illicit drugs which affected his behaviour but that course of actions seems to have been as a result of his mental health difficulties.” Ms Price said Griffiths is supported by his mother, adding: “She is in an incredibly difficult situation.”
The judge, Simon Mills, told the defendant he had been having “a mental health episode which had been aggravated by your deliberate decision to take amphetamines”.
It must have been “absolutely terrifying” for the woman, the judge said. The driving onto the junction had been a “ridiculously dangerous manoeuvre”, he added.
However, he noted Griffiths had had mental health issues since he was as young as four. He read out a comment by his mother that one day “he went to bed as one child and then woke up the next morning as another”.
He also noted his more recent diagnosis of schizophrenia. Jailing Griffiths for 44 months for robbery, he also gave him a 12-month concurrent jail term for dangerous driving and two months concurrent for causing criminal damage to the Range Rover.
Griffiths, of Rhos, Wrexham, will serve a total of 44 months and was disqualified from driving for five years. He must pass an extended retest before he can drive again.
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