Four-by-four Mercedes-driving 'eco campaigner' avoids jail after running over traffic marshal at car boot sale

An 'eco campaigner' driving a Mercedes 4x4 has been spared jail after running over a traffic marshal at a car boot sale.Garry Oates, 66, caused Mark Patterson 'serious injuries' when he ploughed into him after he was told he was not allowed to drive up a track.Mr Patterson had to spend six days in hospital and was left with severe mental health problems, a court heard.'Arrogant' Oates took no responsibility for his actions and denied that he had ever touched Mr Patterson, despite him losing several teeth, but was convicted at trial.Oates, who referred to himself as Captain as his father was once called, caused the victim significant psychological distress and Mr Patterson said that he had tried to end his life as a result of the incident.Oates has previously claimed his father, 'Captain' Silas Oates, donated a ship to Greenpeace which became The Rainbow Warrior, a ship famously blown up by French government agents. But bodies including the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology dispute this is the origin of the vessel. At Portsmouth Crown Court, Hampshire, Oates was handed a sentence of two years suspended for two years for dangerous driving and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.Oates, who appeared via link from Newport Crown Court, Isle of Wight, was fined £3,000 and disqualified from driving for two years. He claimed that 'justice' had not been done. Garry Oates (pictured), 66, caused Mark Patterson 'serious injuries' when he ploughed into him after he was told he was not allowed to drive up a trackProsecutor Steven Attridge said that he struck Mr Patterson with his Mercedes after he was told he could not drive up the track to the car boot sale on June 26, 2021.He said the crime was aggravated by the fact that Mr Patterson, a traffic marshal near Sandown Airport, was a pedestrian and that Oates used his car as a 'weapon'.Reading out a victim impact statement to the court, Mr Patterson said: 'In regards to the further effects I have felt in the last three years, my mental health has gotten to the stage where I have got so low that I have just wanted to end it all.'The Isle of Wight mental health unit have saved me greatly from doing so, as I have had to call the crisis team on multiple occasions.'Nowadays I am having to ring the crisis line weekly as I am feeling so low, and on three occasions in the last 18 months I have tried to end my life.'The situation that I am currently going through is having an effect on my family. One of my children can remember the conversations word for word and is constantly having to go through this as we have waited so long for this to go to trial.'My children shouldn't have to deal with this. They should be out having fun at this age and not worrying about their dad going downhill.'He added: 'Financially, I have struggled. I was a traffic manager at the time of the incident. I was just doing my job and shouldn't have been treated this way.'I don't feel safe working the roads any more, so I haven't worked since the incident.'I don't feel safe to leave my house any more. I feel he knows where I live and has followed me around Morrisons before. Oates continues to deny involvement in the incident and claims 'justice' has not been done'I am angry about the incident and the effects it has had on me. I should never be made to feel this way from just going to work one day.'I feel intimidated when I see him because he is actually trying to provoke me.'Mr Attridge said that Oates had been previously convicted of battery in 2009 and 2020, as well as threatening words and behaviour in 2022.Representing himself after sacking his defence counsel, Oates, who referred to himself as Captain Oates, asked the judge for an adjournment of sentence based on Article Six of the European Convention of Human Rights – the right to a fair trial.Giving mitigation, he said: 'At the trial, the truth didn't come out. The truth and evidence was withheld from the court, which would have shown the propensity of Mr Patterson's lies. Very serious lies.'This is not justice. I never hurt that man, I never touched him.'He said that he had a conflict of interest with his defence lawyer, Wendy Cook, and that he had lodged an appeal against his conviction.Judge David Melville KC denied his request for an adjournment and proceeded to sentence Oates to two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years.He was fined a total of £3,000, with 20 rehabilitation days and he was disqualified from driving for two years with an extended retest required.Judge Melville KC said: 'You are here to be sentenced for two offences. One for dangerous driving and the other for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.'The prosecution case facts are that you drove to a car boot sale at Sandown Airport. You were driving a Mercedes four-by-four and you had a companion with you in the passenger seat.'You were told by Mr Patterson that you could not drive up the track to the car boot. You ignored this and you drove your motor car at him, striking him.'He ended up on the bonnet and then on the ground and had to be taken to hospital. He was released but then had to be taken back to hospital for a further five days.'He said that this was 'disgraceful behaviour' and that he had taken no responsibility for his actions.Judge Melville KC said: 'You are an arrogant man who refuses to accept responsibility for your actions.'It is in your nature not to accept responsibility or to accept criticism from others.'He said that the incident was aggravated by his previous offending and the fact that Mr Patterson was a 'vulnerable' person because he was a pedestrian.Judge Melville KC said that as he was the 'primary carer' for his partner and as he is 'not a well man' this would be a major factor in sentencing.Oates and his father founded the Blue Seas Protection charity in the 1980s, which lists actress Joanna Lumley and musician Brian May as patrons.The latest financial records available show the charity had an income of just £2,500 last year, and an expenditure of £1,350. On its site, it is claimed: 'In the early '80s, Captain Oates donated a trawler to Greenpeace, which became famously known as "The Rainbow Warrior" - subsequently blown up by the French government for protesting their nuclear testing at Mururoa Atoll near New Zealand in the Pacific.'But according to the IMEST, The Rainbow Warrior was actually purchased by Greenpeace in 1978 for £36,872 after being decommissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.In 2019, the charity made headlines after a boat belonging to it was anchored off the coast of Ryde Sands on the Isle of Wight without permission.Subsequently, the Charity Commission 'reminded' Blue Seas Protection of legal requirements regarding charity registration, Island Echo reported.