KEY POINTS:
A man who confronted boy racers after becoming fed up with their antics near his home has found himself on the wrong side of the law, and potentially facing a prison sentence.
Father-of-one James Wilson, 36, is facing serious charges after approaching two young men in a car
that went "sideways" around a corner near his home. After challenging the occupants of the car, Mr Wilson ended up on the bonnet and going through the windscreen.
"We've had seven crashes in the past six years, all young hoons, within 50m of our house," Mr Wilson told the Herald.
"It's just the fact we have got so many young kids in the area. If one of these idiots come around the corner and a kid is crossing in front of our house, there's no way they are going to be able to stop."
Mr Wilson said he was only trying to speak his mind when he approached the car, but became stuck on the car as it reversed.
The two occupants gave a very different version to police - claiming Mr Wilson was carrying a metal bar, and an object that was possibly a handgun, and jumped on the bonnet and threatened to kill them.
Mr Wilson admitted he had a steel bar in his pocket, in case he needed to defend himself, but denies having a gun.
He was due to appear in the Christchurch District Court yesterday facing charges of threatening to kill, possession of an offensive weapon and disorderly behaviour, but his appearance was put off for a week.
The threatening charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment.
Mr Wilson admitted he was "fuming" as he approached the vehicle, in the Christchurch suburb of Linwood on June 20, to tell the occupants off.
He said he put his hand on a pillar of the car's windscreen and began speaking - "I'm sure I swore at them a couple of times" - and the car started reversing.
"I got pulled with the vehicle, with my left hand, and took a couple of steps, and then I was travelling too fast for my feet."
Rather than "hit the deck", he decided to jump on the car bonnet and "started pleading for them to stop".
The car reversed about 40m or 50m before hitting a parked van, propelling Mr Wilson through the car's windscreen.
He suffered a broken nose, smashed teeth, cuts to his face and tongue and injured his thumb.
Inspector Derek Erasmus, head of Canterbury's traffic policing, strongly discouraged people from taking the law into their own hands.
It was far better for people to take down details and call police, who would always use the information even if they could not respond at the time.
