Teenage motorist Ellis Kow cleared of dangerous driving

Teenage driver Ellis Kow has been cleared of dangerous driving in Warmley.

The 18-year-old told Bristol Crown Court he had driven his friend, Daniel Bennett, to the home of Bennett's partner Nicola Lawrence in Neads Drive after a night out.

But he said a struggle ensued and a man tried to get at him in his VW Golf.

He said that, as he tried to leave the scene, another man clambered onto his bonnet and was striking at his car with a metal pole.

He described how he swerved, dropping the man from his bonnet, and drove off.

The Golf ended up with a smashed rear window, damaged door mirror, cracked windscreen, as well as dents and scratches.

The prosecution's case was Kow drove towards a group of people which assembled in Neads Drive that night.

But his case was that he was simply trying to drive away after the altercation involving Bennett.

Mr Kow, 18, of Courtney Way in Kingswood, denied dangerous driving on October 20 last year and went on trial.

A jury unanimously cleared him of wrongdoing in just less than two hours

Bennett, 20, of Hampton Close in Cadbury Heath, pleaded guilty to assault on that occasion and is due to be sentenced on August 22.