Thomas Conder rammed the culprit with his van on Scotland Road, leaving him flying through the air and into the back of a taxi
20:31, 31 Jul 2026Updated 20:32, 31 Jul 2026
Thomas Conder, of Hopwood Street, aged 35(Image: Merseyside Police)
A thug “took the law into his own hands” when he found a man trying to kick down his girlfriend’s front door. Thomas Conder tailed the culprit onto Scotland Road before ramming him with his van.
The force of the collision knocked one of his victim’s shoes off and sent him flying through the air before he smashed into the back of a taxi. A judge told the dad today: “Both you and he are extremely lucky that he was not killed by what you did. It is fair to say that the red mist descended to some enormous degree.”
Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Friday July 31, that Jake Glenholmes was captured on CCTV repeatedly kicking at the front door of Conder’s partner’s home on Hopwood Street in Vauxhall on the evening of April 14 this year. The 35-year-old defendant was then seen arriving at the scene in his blue Peugeot van.
Alex Langhorn, prosecuting, described how Mr Glenholmes meanwhile walked to the rear of the property before being challenged by neighbours and running away in the direction of Scotland Road, turning left and running across three lanes of moving traffic. But he was tailed by Conder, of Hopwood Street, in his vehicle, which was seemingly driven over a pedestrianised area in order to access the major route.
Having caught up to Mr Glenholmes near to the junction with Jennifer Avenue, the van was then accelerated and driven directly into the pedestrian, who was “sent flying into the air” before hitting the back of a taxi, smashing the back window and denting the roof. One of his shoes was also said to have “gone flying” due to the force of the impact.
Conder then drove away in the direction of the Wallasey Tunnel, with his van later found abandoned and damaged on Latimer Street. Police meanwhile attended the scene and found Mr Glenholmes with cuts and bleeding to his forehead, back and bottom, as well as complaining of chest pains.
Having been taken to hospital in an ambulance, he was then “intubated and sedated”. Evidence of bruising to one of his lungs was detected, although there was apparently “no other traumatic injury, somewhat miraculously”, with Mr Langhorn adding: “The victim in this case was incredibly fortunate, given the nature of the incident. Thankfully, the injuries are relatively minor.
“Plainly, there is degree of provocation, although that balances with this being a revenge attack. The defendant gives a frank account in his pre-sentence report of a loss of control, having seen what was occurring.”
Conder was said to have “laid low” following the incident before subsequently being arrested on May 6. He has a total of seven previous convictions for eight offences, including seven months for aggravated vehicle taking in 2014 and eight months for dangerous driving in 2016.
Julian Nutter, defending, told the court: “He believed that the complainant in this case was armed with a knife. The position is that his partner and his then six-year-old child were in the property. He was horrified. As the crown have said, he lost control.
“You can see from the pre-sentence report that he has shown remorse to the satisfaction of the probation officer who made that report. Of course, it is true to say that the defendant is very lucky, in that the individual he attacked did not come up worse, and so was that person very lucky.
“He has got family. He is loyal to his family. He has not seen his now seven-year-old son since he has been inside. This pains him immensely. His family have stood by him. They too are horrified by all of this. He deeply regrets this and, through me, apologises to his victim, who apparently was there attacking that house looking for somebody else who he believed to be there.
“These are unusual facts. There is room here to draw a distinction with these facts from the sort of thing that we generally see, where somebody deliberately targets somebody who is entirely innocent. That is not the case here.
“Of course, he should not have taken the law into his own hands. Of course, he deeply regrets doing that. All he wants to do is to go back to his family. He has no grudge against this person any more. He is entirely prepared to draw a line under this. It is some time since he committed that last offence of dangerous driving, and he has settled down and found himself good employment.”
Conder was previously charged with attempted murder in relation to the incident, but ultimately admitted the lesser offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and dangerous driving. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse wearing a grey Montirex t-shirt, he was jailed for two years and banned from driving for 22 months, after which he will be required to pass an extended retest.
Sentencing, Judge Charlotte Crangle said: “Your partner was at home with your six-year-old when you became aware of a male attempting to get in. I have seen him taking a run up and kicking several times.
“You, rather than checking up on your partner and son, took it upon yourself to seek and then deliver revenge. You told the author of the pre-sentence report that you think it was a mistaken identity case in relation to the person who previously occupied that house.
“On that account, it was nothing do with you. There was no need to involve yourself and no need to chase him away. However, involve yourself you did. Armed with your van, which could be described as a potentially lethal weapon, you followed him.
“You decided to deliver your own revenge by accelerating, driving deliberately at him, causing him to be thrown up in the air, hitting him with such force that one his shoes went flying off. He hit the rear of a taxi. You then did not stop to see if he was ok. You drove away and subsequently abandoned your damaged van.
“It is acknowledged that both you and he are extremely lucky that he was not killed by what you did that evening. It is obvious that it could have been a whole lot worse than it was, in terms of his injuries. You say that you are horrified and lost control. It is fair to say that the red mist descended to some enormous degree.
“You have previous convictions for doing something similar. Certainly, your 2016 conviction is referred to as involving some form of road rage or ramming another vehicle.
“It is clear that you have issues with controlling your temper, controlling your anger and using your vehicle as a weapon. While that was 10 years or so ago, it is still something which is extremely relevant to these offences.”