Drug driver ploughed into car before pulling over and trying to rape passenger
A man has been jailed for more than seven years after trying to rape his passenger, having caused a crash on a motorway while under the influence of drugs.
Jason Holmes, 33, ploughed into the back of a car on the M180 near Thorne in South Yorkshire on 27 September last year while high on drugs.
He then pulled over and sexually assaulted his passenger, strangling them until they were unconscious and dragging them down a nearby embankment where he tried to rape them, before two people intervened and he was arrested.
Holmes, of Church Lane, Scunthorpe, has now been jailed for more than seven years after pleading guilty to charges of attempted rape, dangerous driving, sexual assault, two charges of ABH and assault by beating.
Grimsby Crown Court heard that just after 12pm on 27 September, Holmes drove into the back of a silver car on the M180 towards the junction with the M18 in between Hatfield and Thorne.
They both pulled over onto the hard shoulder, where a third vehicle also pulled over to check they were okay.
Holmes then forced himself on his passenger, sexually assaulting them and strangling them with both his hands until they lost consciousness. Holmes dragged his victim down an embankment where he forcibly removed their clothes and attempted to rape them.
The drivers of both the other vehicles were also assaulted by Holmes before police arrested him at the scene.
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DC Stephen Barnes, from South Yorkshire Police, said: "The victim had to go through an awful and harrowing ordeal which will stay with them for ever, and we commend their bravery in helping us with the investigation, re-living those frightening moments and helping us to prepare the case to get their attacker jailed.
"Thankfully, Holmes admitted the offences and spared the victim having to relive those moments yet again in a court room. We hope that they can now start to move on from this and look forward, rather than back.
"We would also like to thank the victims who were assaulted by Holmes for their help and hope that they feel some form of justice has been handed down so that they, too, may be able to move on with their lives."
Holmes was jailed for six years and eight months imprisonment for attempted rape, plus 10 months for dangerous driving, four months for sexual assault, one year and eight months for the first assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and one year for the second assault occasioning actual bodily harm, four months for assault by beating, and a further month for failing to provide a specimen for analysis, all to be served concurrently.
He is also required to register under the Sexual Offences Act indefinitely and on release from prison will be disqualified from driving for a minimum of 18 months, and will be the subject of a restraining order preventing him from going near the victim.
