A teenage road hog who ploughed into a petrol station manager to try and escape paying for fuel has had his driving ban nearly halved.

Josh Charnley, 20, was just 19 when he caused Lekshmanan Asokkumar life-changing injuries by picking him up on the bonnet of his Hyundai Accent and carrying him for half a mile on July 31 last year.

The manager at the Texaco service station in London Road, West Kingsdown, had been trying to stop Charnley making off without paying for £39 of petrol.

Mr Asokkumar was eventually thrown from the vehicle as Charnley took a sharp turn, suffering a fractured skull and liver damage.

News Shopper: CCTV footage from Texaco shows the Mr Asokkumar being carried off on the bonnet.

CCTV footage shows Mr Asokkumar being picked up by Charnley at the start of his terrifying ordeal.  

At Canterbury Crown Court on January 28 Charnley, of no fixed address, was convicted of causing GBH with intent and three days later he was jailed for 11 years and banned from driving for 15 years.

The ban has now been reduced to eight after Charnley’s appeal against his sentence was heard at the Court of Appeal on Friday (July 18).

Judge Deborah Taylor declined to reduce his prison term, but ruled the length of the driving ban was excessive.