A DRIVER from Oldbury deliberately mowed down a woman in Birmingham park − leaving her with catastrophic leg injuries, a court heard.

Andrew Benain was scouting for drugs in Ladywood on the early hours of September 25 last year when he approached a couple walking in Duchess Road.

But Birmingham Crown Court was told the drug deal turned sour when the man purporting to be a dealer fled with £80 cash Benain had handed over.

The 40-year-old, who was behind the wheel of his partner’s VW Touran, flew into a rage and sped after the pair across parkland − and when the woman slipped and fell Benain ramped the 4x4 over her as she lay helpless on the floor.

Benain reversed and accelerated over her again − causing multiple fractures to her pelvis, plus a ruptured bladder and bowel − before her partner was able to drag her free.

At the court on Tuesday he admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, plus dangerous driving, and was jailed for 13-and-a-half years.

The court heard how nearby police officers ran into the park and were forced to jump for cover as waste disposal worker Benain tried desperately to find an exit route. He eventually smashed through a wooden fence and drove off.

The Touran’s registered keeper told police he had sold the car weeks earlier to a man he knew only as Andy and that he had previously sold an Audi to the same man.

Detectives traced the Audi to Benain’s home in Bernard Road and data analysis of his iPhone revealed a call to the victim’s partner, made by the woman herself from inside the Touran, minutes before she was mown down.

Detective constable Sarah Evans, said: “This could easily have ended in a murder inquiry. Not only did Benain deliberately run the woman over, he reversed over her body and sped forward again. She suffered awful crush injuries and was lucky to survive.

“Our crash scene examiners found tyre marks all over the park from where he’d chased after the couple and from his frantic efforts to escape.”

The VW Touran was never recovered.