Man run over by pub raiders (From Barry And District News)

Man run over by pub raiders

A BARRY man was run over by his own car by thieves who raided the Royal Hotel on Saturday night.

Anthony Payne, 57, is now recovering at the Barry Road premises run by his girlfriend, Linda Hibbert, who feared he had been killed.

The 53-year-old said: "I was in the bar on Saturday night. At about 9.30pm one of the bar staff called me to say there was a car alarm going off in the car park.

"My boyfriend, Tony, went outside to see what was going on and found someone behind the wheel of his car trying to ram the car park gates.

"He got in front of the car and shouted at him to get out. They just accelerated and sent him flying into the air, knocking him unconscious. When we found him we thought he was dead.

"Later, when I went into the office, I found the safe doors open and its contents emptied. They must have taken the car keys when they were stealing the money."

Linda estimates the cash loss to be around £2,500.

Anthony, who suffers from angina, said he couldn't believe it when the raiders drove straight for him.

He said: "By the time I got outside to the car park, he had almost managed to ram his way through the iron gate. I was shouting at the driver telling him to get out of my car. His eyes were glazed over as though he had been on drugs or something. He just drove straight at me.

"I was knocked unconscious and came around in the gutter."

Anthony was taken to Barry Hospital for x-rays on his neck, shoulder and arm and is now being treated for whiplash.

After hitting Anthony, the car sped off along Barry Road and collided head on with another car driven by Craig Williams, 27, of Gatehome Close.

He told the News: "I was pulling out of Hannah Street on to Barry Road when I was hit by another vehicle speeding up the road. The other car ricocheted off my car into a parked vehicle. The driver then got out of the car and ran up the street."

Craig has been treated for neck, back, shoulder and head injuries at both Barry Hospital and the University Hospital of Wales.

l Anyone with information is asked to contact Barry CID on 01446 731606.