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  "path": "/2026/05/30/mum-archie-battersbee-jailed-chasing-driver-causing-a-serious-crash-28579794/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-30T13:43:54.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
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    "News",
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    "Archie Battersbee",
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  "textContent": "Hollie Dance, mother of Archie Battersbee, a 12-year-old who died on August 6, 2022, after his life support was withdrawn following a legal battle between his parents and the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)\n\nThe mother of Archie Battersbee has been sentenced to prison after a court found she deliberately chased another motorist off the road, causing a serious crash.\n\nHollie Dance, 50, is the grief-stricken mum of Archie, the 12-year-old boy who died after his life support was switched off four years ago.\n\nDance had fought fiercely to overturn a High Court ruling that doctors could withdraw medical treatment.\n\nShe has now been jailed for four years for chasing another driver for 12 miles from Southend to Basilon, Essex, in October 2022, weeks after going to Archie’s funeral.\n\nA last-ditch plea to the European Court of Human Rights to intervene in the case was rejected. (Picture: PA)\n\n##  Sign up for all of the latest stories\n\nStart your day informed with Metro's **News Updates** newsletter or get **Breaking News** alerts the moment it happens.\n\nShe and her other son Thomas Summers, 26, who was tailing her in a rented Toyota chased their victim for miles. The victim, a chef, made a ‘frantic’ call to the police while trying to drive away.\n\nDuring the pursuit Dance collided with the driver’s Peugot, forcing it to crash into a tree. Summers then struck the man with his rental car.\n\nThe victim fractured and dislocated his shoulder and fractured his foot after he was ejected from his car on impact.\n\nHe told the BBC: ‘I have never understood why I was targeted that night, and I often find myself overthinking what happened.’\n\nSummers has also been sentenced to five years in prison.\n\nHollie Dance and and her older son Thomas Summers were found guilty of chasing a man from Southend to Basildon in two cars in October 2022, weeks after 12-year-old Archie died. (Picture: Newsquest/SWNS)\n\nThe court heard that Dance and Summers believed the victim had been involved in an earlier attack on a family member.\n\nThey suspected he was responsible for an incident in which Dance’s daughter and Summers’ sister had allegedly been struck with a bottle.\n\nArchie Battersbee had spent nearly five months in intensive care after suffering catastrophic brain damage in what was believed to be a social-media-related challenge. Doctors later concluded he was brain-stem dead.\n\nHis parents fought an intense legal battle to keep his life support in place. Despite numerous appeals, courts ruled that continuing treatment was not in Archie’s best interests. His life support was withdrawn, and he died in August 2022.\n\nTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo\n\nUp Next\n\nPrevious Page\n\nNext Page\n\nDuring the trial, Dance’s barrister described her as someone whose life had been deeply affected by an unimaginable tragedy.\n\nThe court heard she had endured months of emotional turmoil and had undergone a mental health assessment shortly before the offences took place.\n\nThe prosecution also referred to Dance’s previous convictions, including actual bodily harm in 1996 and a drink-driving offence in 2017.\n\nSummers’ lawyer argued that the chase was a spontaneous reaction rather than a carefully planned attack.\n\nSentencing the pair, Recorder Peter Clark acknowledged the devastating loss suffered by the family and the injury caused to another relative. However, he stressed that there are lawful ways to respond to wrongdoing.\n\nHe told the mother and son: ‘Your response was completely unlawful, you sought revenge,’ The Sun reported.\n\nHe told the BBC: ‘Two wrongs do not make a right, they never do. This was a determined, persistent, highly dangerous pursuit.’\n\nDance admitted a charge of dangerous driving and was also convicted of possessing a banned gas canister.\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,** check our news page.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Mum of Archie Battersbee jailed for chasing driver off road and into a tree"
}