Ashfield man who 'used his car as a weapon' jailed for 25 years after murdering one man and almost killing another

John Jefferies ploughed into Samual Donner and Conna Ross as an ‘act of revenge’ after one of them kicked in the windscreen of his Range Rover, which had been parked outside his girlfriend’s house, and shouted threats at him.

Samuel Donner, 29, died at the scene of the collision, on Southwell Lane, Kirkby, on Saturday, August 8 last year, after fracturing his skull and suffering bleeding to his brain and damage to his spinal column.

A second man, Conna Ross, survived but suffered an open fracture to his lower leg and a laceration to the scalp.

Jefferies, 31, formerly of Walesby Drive, Kirkby, denied the murder of Mr Donner and charges of attempted murder and causing grevious bodily harm with intent against Mr Ross.

But it took the jury slightly under eight-and-a-half-hours to find him guilty of Mr Donner’s murder and the attempted murder of Mr Ross at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday, March 12.

Jefferies had claimed that Mr Donner had threatened to have him killed by the Irish mafia, and had followed the two men to ‘frighten them’.

But the jury decided by a majority of 10-2 that he had deliberately driven at the two, manoeuvring his car in such a way that he hit Mr Donner from behind with the centre of his car – throwing him through the air.

Sentencing Jefferies to a minimum term of 25 years, Judge Stuart Rafferty QC told him: “For no justifiable reason, you have killed a man and nearly killed another. I say no justifiable reason because it would seem that Samuel Donner had come to your house and shouted threats at you.

“They were unpleasant threats but were equally wildly exaggerated.

“There is no indication in this case that the red mist had descended. You put from your mind any thought of calling the police. If you believed these threats, you would have put your family in the car and taken them somewhere else.

“You drove straight at them using your car as a weapon, intending to hit them but also intending not to hurt yourself.

“You turned to hit them directly from behind, and if the tyres had not blown out on your vehicle you would have continued driving and tried to escape.

“You did not care for them at all because you had done what you intended to do. The first thing you said afterwards was, ‘he smashed my f****** windscreen’. You weren’t thinking about your daughter then.

“Lives have been lost. Lives have been destroyed - now including your own.”

Earlier in the trial, the court had heard that Jefferies had fled the scene after getting a lift to his work van. He had then spent two hours driving around before briefly meeting up with his brother at Pinxton Bridge.

He had then met up with his daughter and other family members at King’s Mill Reservoir, so he could hug and say goodbye to the seven-year-old.

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