TWO cousins of crash victim Nicky Gough have been jailed for a revenge attack on the family of a driver they blame for the accident.
Mr Gough, 21, was killed, along with his fiance Colette Holbrook, 20, on the A342 near Derry Hill last March. Martin Rowley's car was speeding behind Miss Holbrook's as a group of friends drove back from a car show in Bournemouth.
No blame was attached to him for the death of the couple when Mr Rowley, 20, admitted dangerous driving in October. He was ordered to pay a £750 fine with £70 costs and banned from driving for a year. In the same month Aidan Minnis, 19, of Pitman Avenue, Trowbridge and Daniel Crewe, 20, of Pockeridge Road, Corsham, went to Mr Rowley's family home in Sandown Drive.
The pair attacked Mr Rowley's parents and a family friend in what a judge described as "appalling and premeditated" assault. On Friday at Swindon Crown Court Minnis was jailed for 18 months and Crewe for a year.
Chris Smyth, prosecuting, said "No blame was attached to Martin Rowley but Mr Crewe and Mr Minnis would appear to hold him responsible in some way for the accident."
The court was told the attack left Mr Rowley's parents worried about their safety and they had sold their house and were moving away. Minnis and Crewe both admitted causing actual bodily harm.
Adam Vaitilingham, for Minnis, said his client accepted he faced a jail term for what he had done as he was the ringleader. He said the death of his cousin had affected him badly.
Sarah Regan, for Crewe, said he was very sorry for what he had done and wished he had not got involved in the attack.
Jailing them Judge Charles Wade said "In my view this was a deliberate and premeditated attack in the sense that you went to the house knowing violence might follow. "It was an appalling attack: in one view a revenge attack which went hopelessly wrong as the subject of your wrath, as it were, was not in the house anyway."
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