A VAN driver has been found not guilty of attacking a fellow road user with a wrench.

In the first trial to take place at Bolton Crown Court since the coronavirus lockdown, Jordan Gardner, had denied beating Anthony Healey during a confrontation on Garnett Street in Ramsbottom on October 22, 2018.

Gardner, 35, of Foxglove Close, Rochdale, also denied possessing an offensive weapon, but a jury found him guilty of the lesser charge following the two day trial.

Mr Healey told the court how he was trying to flee when he was hit behind the ear and above the eyebrow with the weapon, leaving cuts which bled badly.

Mr Healey had attached a trailer to his car and was driving down Garnett Street towards Bolton Street when his way was blocked by a transit van driven by Gardner. The pair had been involved in another incident a year previously.

Gardner said he had remonstrated with Mr Healey after the car driver pulled out of a road unsafely and in a scuffle Mr Healey hit his head on the trailer.

Gardner was released on bail to return to Bolton Crown Court for sentencing on August 17.