MAN WHO DRAGGED WOMAN INTO CAR AND THREATENED TO TAKE HER 'TO SOME LOCAL WOODS' SENTENCED TO PRISON
Witnesses helped to rescue a terrified woman repeatedly shouting for help from a car after a violent attack at the hands of her then partner.Gary Reid had driven off with the lady in his passenger seat on July 11 this year after they had earlier fallen out.
He jabbed at the side of her head in the vehicle, before she managed to open the door and escape.
But she left the passenger door open and Reid reversed his car and clipped her arm in Beech Avenue, New Basford.
She fell to the floor, [Nottingham Crown Court](https://www.nottinghampost.com/all-about/courts) heard on Wednesday (December 21), and Reid tried to drive forwards.
"Whether or not you intended to run over her is neither here nor there," said Recorder Paul Mann, King's Counsel, who addressed Reid in the dock.
"It is a dangerous act that could have had that result," he added.
Reid left his vehicle and ran after the terrified woman on foot, grabbing her neck and dragging her back to the car by her hair.
He tried to put her in the boot, saying he was going to 'take her to some local woods'.
When he did not manage to get her in the boot - it was too small - he dragged her into the back seat, leaving her lying on her backside with her legs out of the passenger window.
Recorder Mann said she was terrified and shouting repeatedly for help.
Her call was answered by a number of young people who appeared on the scene and managed to delay Reid driving off as they encouraged the woman, who was covered in bruises, out of the vehicle.
One witness took her home and called police, leaving others to chase after Reid's car as they shouted out his number plate.
Reid had taken her keys and phone, preventing her from getting help.
Her statement revealed she was struggling to come to terms with what happened and is frightened about repercussions for her and her family.
Reid, of Milton Street, [Nottingham city centre](https://www.nottinghampost.com/all-about/nottingham-city-centre), went on to plead guilty to assault, causing bodily harm, adding to his 28 convictions on his record for 68 offences.
Recorder Mann sentenced him to 25 months in prison and added a seven-year restraining order to protect his victim, who lives in Radford.
The judge said the incident could have ended differently but for the intervention of members of the public.
He singled out the woman who responded to the victim's cries for help, commending her public-spiritedness and bravery, after she contributed to the woman's rescue and provided refuge in her home.
She was awarded £300 from public funds.
Stephen Cobley, mitigating, told the judge on behalf of 56-year-old Reid: "He is sorry for the way he behaved."
