Mother-of-two tells of her terror after being car-jacked by her ex

A woman has spoken out about the terror she faced when her ex-boyfriend attacked her while she was driving before abandoning her on the roadside at night. 

Marie Gradwell, 31, was punched in the face while driving at 50mph by Lloyd Scott. 

Scott, 27, arrived at Ms Gradwell’s house in Haswell, County Durham at 3am and ordered her to drive him to his mother’s house. 

Marie Gradwell

Marie Gradwell, 31, suffered severe bruising after she was attacked by her former partner Lloyd Scott in November after he arrived at her home while drunk

As well as punching her in the face, Scott pulled her hair which caused her to swerve across the road as she struggled to keep control of her Vauxhall Vectra. 

Eventually, the mother of two brought the car to a halt at the side of the road when Scott grabbed the keys from the ignition and forced her onto the roadway. 

Ms Gradwell, who was only wearing her dressing gown had her phone with her and was able to call police, who started pursuing Scott. 

The 27-year-old attacker refused to stop even after the car’s tyres had been destroyed by a stinger. 

When police managed to box in Scott, he reversed at high speed at the officers and attempted to escape. 

Lloyd Scott, 27, pictured, was jailed for 26 months following the violent attack on Ms Gradwell

Lloyd Scott, 27, pictured, was jailed for 26 months following the violent attack on Ms Gradwell

As a result of the attack and the high speed chase, Scott was jailed for 26 months.  

Speaking after her ex-partner had been jailed, Ms Gradwell said the journey to his mother’s house in Sherburn should have taken five minutes. 

She said: ‘When he arrived at my door he looked terrible. I could tell he had been drinking.

‘I went upstairs to get my dressing gown on and shoes.

‘He was being obnoxious, hurling abuse at me. I just thought it was best to get him home, away from the situation. There was no reason for it. We hadn’t argued. I hadn’t had any contact with him for almost a month.

‘But when we got onto the main road he was shouting, calling me a s**g.

‘Then he punched me in the face.

‘I don’t know what I thought. It was so unexpected. I didn’t think he would ever do that. I had trusted him around my children. I was in shock. I was scared I was going to crash. I was on a main road, doing about 50mph.’

She explained how she stopped driving for a short while but when she started again he grabbed her hair and pushed her face up against the window.

She pulled over and protected her head with her hands as he continued to attack her.

She added: ‘When he dragged me from the car I was terrified. There were no streetlights, it was pitch black and all I had on was my dressing gown.

‘By some miracle I had managed to get out of the car with my phone so I called the police.’

Scott was locked up last week at Durham Crown Court after pleading guilty to dangerous driving, common assault, aggravated vehicle taking, driving with excess alcohol and driving whilst disqualified and without insurance.

Ms Gradwell attended his sentencing and was shocked when he was jailed for just four months over the attack – the rest of his prison time relating to driving offences.

She said: ‘Personally, I really don’t think it’s long enough.

Marie Gradwell

Marie Gradwell

Ms Gradwell said her ex was convicted of common assault and believes he should have faced more serious charges which could have resulted in a stiffer jail sentence 

‘But he was convicted of common assault. You can spit at someone and be convicted of the same charge.

‘He should have been convicted of something worse.

‘He is a foot taller than me and I was driving. How could I have defended myself?

‘You read about this stuff in the papers but you don’t think it’s actually ever going to happen to you.

‘But I don’t want to be a victim. He is going to have to live with the fact he is a woman beater for the rest of his life.’

Ms Gradwell, mother to Aimee, 13 and six-year-old Macey, met Scott on Tinder in November 2018 and they moved in together before they began to row about money and the relationship broke down.

Ms Gradwell, pictured with Scott, began dating after matching with each other on Tinder. However, the relationship soon collapsed after the couple started rowing about money

Ms Gradwell, pictured with Scott, began dating after matching with each other on Tinder. However, the relationship soon collapsed after the couple started rowing about money

The pair split at the end of May and had kept in touch, though they hadn’t seen each other for three weeks when Scott launched his brutal assault.

The court heard how Scott of Sherburn Village, already had many motoring offences on his record.

Steven Reed, mitigating, told the court he was ‘ashamed and genuinely remorseful’ for his actions.

But Recorder Joanne Kidd said: ‘It’s only a matter of good luck that no-one was significantly injured and the car did not go off the road.

‘This was against a backdrop of a truly terrible record for previous offences.’

As well as the prison sentence Scott was banned from driving for four years after his release.

A restraining order prohibits him from contacting or approaching Ms Gradwell for five years.

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