Kettering man jailed for driving into pedestrians

A 33-year-old man who deliberately drove his car into a group of pedestrians has been jailed for four years and four months.

Rhys Evan Mercer, of Doris Road in Kettering, used his white Land Rover Defender as a weapon in the early hours of 16 April 2023, targeting seven people on Bath Road in the Northamptonshire town following an earlier altercation.

One man in his 40s suffered severe injuries, including multiple rib fractures, brain hematomas, lung damage, and the permanent loss of his sense of smell.

Four others sustained injuries ranging from fractures to cuts and bruises.