A DRIVER was left shaken up after being chased and crashed into by a woman in a road rage outburst, a jury heard.

Caroline Hamer, 37, is on trial at Cardiff Crown Court for dangerous driving after an alleged spat with another driver on the A4042 in Cwmbran last year.

John Gooding, a bathroom fitter from Cwmbran, yesterday told the court his partner was screaming and his three-year-old son was left upset following the incident on Friday, July 19, 2015.

Hamer, of Sunnybank Road in Pontypool, is alleged to have been driving a Mercedes at around 5pm when she "locked horns" with Mr Gooding and his family, who were in a Ford Fiesta on Chapel Lane.

Mr Gooding told the court how he had stopped just before a narrow part of the road on Chapel Lane because he saw a black Mercedes - which the prosecution claim was driven by Hamer - coming towards him "at speed" and with no sign of stopping.

Giving evidence, Mr Gooding said there had been a "stand off" as to who would go first through the narrow bridge on the road first, and he called Hamer a "stupid cow" as the Mercedes drove past.

Mr Gooding, who was on his way to a friend's barbecue, next saw the Mercedes in his rear view mirror on the A4042 heading towards the Turnpike roundabout.

The court heard how Hamer sped after Mr Gooding's Ford Fiesta before cutting in front of him and braking hard, causing him to swerve into the next lane.

The prosecution claim as he swerved to avoid hitting the Mercedes, Hamer edged her car out to hit the back of Mr Gooding's car, causing damage and debris to fly into the air.

Paul Hewitt, prosecuting, said: "At this point he was panicking. His partner screamed out.

"The Mercedes, it seems, was still in the middle of the road. They drove away and phoned the police later and made a complaint."

But the defence questioned how the spat came about.

Sarah Waters, defending, said Hamer had been driving appropriately on Chapel Lane and Mr Gooding had spat at Hamer out of his window and called her a "f****** w****" instead of "stupid cow".

Ms Waters said: "I'm going to suggest she [Hamer] was already on the bridge when the stand off happened.

"You didn't want to reverse and stayed there for some time.

"Eventually you did start reversing but not very much and you left a gap but not very big. And you were so impatient to get past her and that's why you were shouting at her."

The defence also claim the damage to Mr Gooding's car, the fact he left the scene of the accident on the A4042 and also didn't ring the police immediately suggests he caused the crash. But he replied: "You're making stuff up. It's not true. It's far from the truth."

Prosecutor Mr Hewitt said Mr Gooding's partner was frightened by the entire incident and feared for her safety and what might have happened.

He said: "The conclusion is she [Hamer] did that deliberately for what had happened at the bridge."

Mr Gooding told the court: "I thought she was trying to stop us to have a confrontation."