A TEENAGE driver who ran his car over a pavement and hit a jogger has been locked up for 18 months at Worcester Crown Court on a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Judge Robert Juckes QC said 18-year-old Jordan Wheeler was showing off to a friend and had used his car as a weapon.

Wheeler, of Longfellow Close, Walkwood, Redditch, who pleaded guilty, was sent to a Young Offenders Institution and disqualified from driving for two years.He was ordered to pay a £100 victim impact charge.

The victim, said prosecutor John Brotherton, was 17-year-old Justin Warby, who was training with the intention of joining the Marines.

It was 8pm on March 12 last year when he was struck in Springside Road.

He suddenly became aware that a car was following him. It mounted the kerb and was driven at him deliberately. Wheeler said later that he had not intended to cause injury but the car hit the jogger on the leg before being driven off.

Mr Warby managed to raise the alarm at a nearby house and was taken to the Alexandra Hospital for his injuries to be treated. These included a broken leg and damaged ankle. Months later he was still suffering from the injuries and had been unable to jog. Wheeler was arrested three days later.

For Wheeler, Jonathon Challinor pointed out that his client was only 17 at the time and had only recently passed his test. He had mounted the pavement at a low speed. His intention was to scare Mr Warby as he drove at a walking pace.

There had been a lack of premeditation but his driving had shown his inexperience. He was of previous good character and shown genuine remorse. He was regarded as "an extremely nice lad" from a respectable family. He now worked in a Redditch pub and was engaged to be married.

Judge Juckes said that as Wheeler had recently passed his test he should have been aware of the care he should have taken. He had inflicted a single blow as he was showing off to a friend in the car, which had been used as a weapon.