Mother-of-two Lesley Poole, 38, rammed into Mandy Cordingley, who was left clinging on to the bonnet, at a set of traffic lights

A mother-of-two who deliberately drove into a multiple sclerosis sufferer after a minor traffic shunt while shouting 'It's people like you who put in false claims' has avoided prison.

Lesley Poole, 38, rammed into Mandy Cordingley, who was left clinging on to the bonnet, at a set of traffic lights in Oldham last December.

Poole, who was driving a Vauxhall Corsa, bumped into the back of Miss Cordingley's Motability Citroen car at a set of traffic lights.

They both got out of their cars, but senior healthcare assistant Ms Cordingley, 53, was forced to call the police after Poole flew into a rage.

Poole, a former rail worker from Manchester, revved her vehicle's engine and drove into the victim as she held on to the bonnet.

She then swerved towards Ms Cordingley, who is also a mother of two, for a second time before driving away.

In a 999 call made to police by a witness, Ms Cordingley was heard shouting: 'She's trying to run me over in the middle of the road. She's actually trying to run me over.

'She's going to try and run me over again but I'm not moving. She's just hit my bloody arm now, my arm is killing me.

'She drove the car and purposely hit me, she did it about five times and on the sixth she hit me. I was trying to stop her on the road.'

Ms Cordingley was taken to North Manchester General Hospital complaining of pain to the neck, lower back and left hip and some numbness to her right forearm.

X-rays and CT scans discovered that she had fractured a vertebrae of her spine. She had to wear a brace to protect her spine and was forced to take four months off work as she recovered.

At Manchester Crown Court, Poole was found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving but was given a 15 months suspended jail term and a three year driving ban - after she sobbed in court and claimed she had 'genuine remorse'.

Ms Cordingley was taken to North Manchester General Hospital complaining of pain to the neck, lower back and left hip and some numbness to her right forearm

She has been given an interim driving ban and has been bailed for sentencing at crown court.

After the case, Ms Cordingley said: 'I had only got out of my car to get her details but she revved the engine and I hung on to the bonnet because I was terrified.

'I thought if I let go I was going to go under, I was holding on for my life. I remember thinking "I can't die".

'She was revving the engine and smirking, that's what keeps coming to me at night. She was trying to run me over. She was so crazy. I thought I was going to die.

'I cant sleep ever since it happened. All I can hear is the revving of the engine.'

The court heard that the minor crash caused little or no damage but trouble began when Ms Cordingley rang the police to say the other driver was getting angry.

After the case Ms Cordingley (pictured) said: 'I’m shocked she’s gone free because I thought she would go to jail'

Ms Cordingley told the hearing: 'After the initial collision, she was stood at the back of my car and she said, "Are you OK?"

'I told her I wasn't and that I was in a lot of pain. I went back in my car because she got abusive and I was scared. She was accusing me of making something up, I was on my own and she had a man there with her.

'The police told me to get the drivers details and I got out of my car and was walking to her car. Before I got chance to go to her car she started driving. She reversed back enough to have me literally running backwards.

'She was revving her engine, she was going to run me over. When she started revving her engine and driving, I held on to the bonnet for my life. I didn't want to go underneath the car, that's why. I was scared of letting go of her bonnet and her going over me.

'I was holding the bonnet for dear life. If your life depends on it you will run, crawl, whatever you have to do it doesn't matter whether you have a disability or not.'

A witness tried to take Poole's car keys away from her but she seized them back.

Ms Cordingley continued: 'She started driving again and I'm in the middle of the road and she came straight at me. She was 100 per cent deliberately trying to come at me.

'I tried to get off the road and she drove towards me. I turned around and saw the car and I put my arm up to try and stop the car as daft as that might seem, it was just a reaction.'

Passing motorist Lisa Collinge said she saw the Vauxhall 'swerve left and hit someone and then pull off right''. She stopped to help the victim.

'I remember seeing the car turn in to Mandy and then go to opposite way,' she said.

'I didn't see whether the car hit Mandy causing her to fall over but when I looked over she was crouched on the floor.

'She got to the central reservation and I think she sat down. She was complaining of pain in her arm, I sat with her until her daughters arrived.

'When the car swerved to her it was going to hit her, it was quite clear it had gone one way and then turned the other. It was quite clear she was trying to drive into her. She said her arm was hurting and then her back and her leg.'

Poole, who was with her partner at the time, denied wrongdoing and described the road shunt as a 'kiss.'

She told the court she had driven away after fearing she was about to assaulted by a man who intervened.

'The lady said "Yes I'm fine, don't worry about it, it's fine", Poole said. 'But as soon as I told her there was no damage to her car or my car, she said "Oh I've got a pain in my back, I need an ambulance'".

A suspended sentence is a kick in the teeth. I genuinely thought that was it that night and yet what she’s got is a slap on the wrist - Ms Cordingley

'I was angry, I'll be honest. I was very upset, I went to my car to get my phone, I thought "There's nothing I can do here, she's going to do what she's going to do".

'She was on the bonnet of my car, screaming like a banshee: "You're going no f***** where."'

Passing sentence, the judge Mr Recorder Mukhtar Hussain QC told Poole: 'This was undoubtedly dreadful behaviour on your part but I have read carefully your letter in which you express your remorse in relation to what happened to the victim in this case. Given these circumstances I am going to take a risk with you.'

Poole will have to abide by a 9.30pm to 7am curfew for six months and pay a £100 victim surcharge.

After the case Ms Cordingley said: 'I’m shocked she’s gone free because I thought she would go to jail. She will be laughing and thinking this all funny - and will probably do it again now.

'A suspended sentence is a kick in the teeth. I genuinely thought that was it that night and yet what she’s got is a slap on the wrist. I had only got out of my car to get her details but she revved the engine and I hung on to the bonnet because I was terrified.

'I thought if I let go I was going to go under, I was holding on for my life. I remember thinking ‘I can’t die’.

'She was revving the engine and smirking, that’s what keeps coming to me at night. She was trying to run me over. She was so crazy. I thought I was going to die.