AN ELDERLY man was deliberately hit by his neighbour's car and thrown

through the air.

Brian Williams, 72, was lucky to be alive, a court heard.

A couple of inches either way and he could have been under the wheels and he could have been killed or seriously injured.

It was the culmination of a long-standing neighbour dispute with Daniel Wayne Jones, 32.

Jones, a professional truck driver from Ffordd Brynffynnon, Carmel, near Holywell, was said to have used his car as a weapon and deliberately reversed into him.

Prosecutor Justin Espie told North East Wales magistrates that following an argument as the former engineering manager in the aviation industry cut his hedge, Jones lowered his car window and shouted: "I have had enough

of you.

"You are a dead man walking."

When the victim had his back turned towards him, Jones deliberately reversed up a track, struck him, and he was thrown some 8ft to 10ft feet through the air.

Jones drove off leaving Mr Williams injured on the ground.

He had instant pain to his body including his hip which bruised over.

Mr Espie told magistrates: "It is perhaps fortunate that the injuries were not substantially more serious."

In a victim impact statement Mr Williams said that he had worked in the aviation industry for 45 years.

He and his wife had lived at their home at Carmel since 1984.

They had endured an acrimonious relationship with Jones who was the son

of their next door neighbours.

It had worsened in recent times, Jones had a threatening attitude and it culminated in the offences against him.

"A couple of inches either way and I could easily have gone under the wheels of his vehicle rather than being thrown three metres through the air," Mr Williams said.

"I have no doubt he intended to cause me serious harm."

Mr Williams said he had sought GP help for the continuing effects of his injuries but the psychological effects of what happened would stay with him.

Sadly, after spending many happy years at their property, his wife was so distraught and intimidated they they were considering moving house.

The psychological effect of being hit by a vehicle at that speed and being propelled through the air had been strange and frightening.

Jones was placed on a 12 month community order with 25 days rehabilitation and 150 hours of unpaid work.

He was banned from driving for a year and ordered to take an extended re-test.

Jones was also made subject to an 18 month restraining order not to contact his neighbour directly or indirectly.

He is not to enter any part of Mr Williams driveway or property.

Chairman Joanne Linfield said it was a nasty incident and Jones knew what he had done was wrong.

Jones had admitted assault and failing to stop.

He denied a charge of dangerous driving at an earlier hearing but he was convicted.

Interviewed, Jones admitting his vehicle hit him in a deliberate act, he saw him on the floor and he left the scene.

Jones, representing himself, said he had been a heavy goods vehicle driver for seven years and had also worked as a bus driver.

His job would no longer be available to him because of the driving ban.

Probation officer Miriam Arton said Jones had told her there was a long history of dispute with his neighbour and they had been through mediation in the past.

He said as a matter of courtesy he had informed his neighbour that he was bringing his lorry home at the weekend and the conversation turned nasty.

Miss Arton said Jones' thinking seemed quite distorted and she was concerned that he felt that he was the victim and appeared to minimise what he had done.

He was a single man who told how he "kept himself to himself" and suffered from depression and anxiety.