A FORMER soldier haunted by ‘demons’ hunted two Royal Marine commandos and used his car to mow them down in a ‘revenge attack’.

Dale Wilson was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Joshua Strange and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to Rhys Carpenter after ploughing into the green berets, an attack captured on CCTV.

Wilson was jailed at Worcester Crown Court yesterday after he was convicted following a trial which finished on December 20 last year. The 27-year-old former soldier drove at both Royal Marines in the early hours of Christmas morning 2015.

Wilson was in his flat in Martley Road, Stourport when he had an argument with Mr Carpenter while Mr Strange was present. Wilson got into his car and drove at them at the junction of Kings Arm Lane and Redhouse Road, Astley Cross, Stourport.

Charles Hamer, prosecuting, said: “The Crown’s case was that, following that first incident, Mr Wilson got into a motorcar and hunted for Mr Carpenter and Mr Strange and, when he saw them, used his car as a weapon to carry out a revenge attack upon them.”

Mr Strange suffered multiple fragmentation fractures of the tibia and fibula which led to a deformity of the leg bone while Mr Carpenter suffered a break to the hand (the metacarpals). The defendant had previous convictions going back to when he was a juvenile including assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault, criminal damage and driving offences.

We have previously reported how Wilson, who served in the Mercian Regiment, was over the drink-drive limit and was returned to military custody after being fined £1,000 and given a three-year ban by magistrates. He had spent 72 days in military custody for going absent without leave but was demobbed.

The Shuttle reported in 2012 how Mr Strange, of Stourport, joined 43 Commando Royal Marines, based in Scotland. He passed out at a ceremony at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines in Devon with 138 troops.

Debra White, for Wilson, said he had previously served in the military in Afghanistan and suffered from PTSD, working in custody to address his ongoing issues.

Miss White said: “He would also like to offer his apologies for the way in which he behaved that night. There clearly is a background. One will never know exactly what it was that happened.”

Judge Jim Tindal said it appeared that it was extremely likely that Mr Strange and Mr Carpenter were ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’ but added: “That’s not to say nothing happened in the flat.”

But he said Wilson had to take responsibility for his own actions which included getting into a car when he was ‘very angry’ and said the CCTV of the incident ‘speaks for itself’.

The judge told him his actions had cut short Mr Strange’s career in the forces and that it had been ‘more by luck than judgement’ that Mr Carpenter had not been more seriously injured.

“Yes you were in temper but the reality of the situation is that you did use your car as a weapon and you did cause substantial injuries in relation to Mr Strange” said judge Tindal.

Judge Tindal told him: “There are demons in your past you have to live with and you have not dealt with them properly and that is why you have offended in this way.”

The defendant wept in the dock when the judge referred to his ‘demons’ but the judge told him to continue to work hard in prison to ‘put your demons behind you’.

Wilson was jailed for seven years and disqualified from driving for five years. This ban was extended by three and a half years so that it will begin when he is released from custody.