Three men have been sent to prison for a violent assault on a boy who was deliberately driven into as he rode his bicycle, then stabbed as he lay injured on a residential street in West Sussex.
Jack Ancell, 24, Charlie Clark, 24, and Aiden Barber, 22, were sentenced at Lewes Crown Court after admitting causing grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed article in public. All three played a role in the attack on Sydney Road, Haywards Heath, on the evening of 28 July 2025, Sussex Police confirmed.
What the court was told about the attack
The boy was knocked from his bicycle by a Vauxhall Corsa at around 5.40pm, the impact sending him through a garden fence and a street sign. As he lay on the ground, he was set upon by his attackers and stabbed. The assault ended only when members of the public intervened, prompting the men to flee the scene.
Officers later traced the car involved and arrested the three men. While each pleaded guilty to the charges against them, the court did not establish which of the three had been behind the wheel at the moment of the collision.
Ancell, of Sayers Common, was handed a seven-year prison sentence with an additional three-year extended licence period after being assessed as dangerous. Clark, of Hurstpierpoint, also received seven years. Barber, of Burgess Hill, was jailed for six years and three months.
A vehicle used as a weapon
Chief Inspector Steve Turner described the violence inflicted on the victim as “appalling” and said there was “simply no excuse” for what had taken place. The decision to drive at the boy, he said, had endangered not only the victim but other road users in the area.
“They then continued by stabbing and seriously assaulting the seriously injured victim on the ground in a cowardly attack,” he said. “They are now learning the consequences and will be serving significant custodial sentences.”
