A Wiltshire disqualified driver reversed at speed towards a police officer.
David Watkins-Rudman, 37, of Beech Avenue, Swindon, admitted driving whilst disqualified and assaulting an emergency worker when he appeared at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 28th December 2023.
Driving whilst disqualified is an offence under section 103 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. It has maximum penalty of 26 weeks' custody and/or a fine at level 5 (unlimited) on summary conviction. Common assault and battery on an emergency worker is an offence under section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, aggravated by the provisions of section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.
Magistrates heard that police attended an unrelated incident at Applegreen Petrol Station, Great Western Way, Swindon, on the morning of Saturday, 7th October 2023. Whilst there, the officer noticed a silver Audi TT parked up with the defendant, a disqualified driver, behind the wheel.
As the officer approached the Audi reversed towards him at speed, causing him to jump out of the way. The vehicle then sped away into the distance.
Watkins-Rudman managed to evade the police until the morning of Christmas Day, when he was found asleep in the vehicle and arrested.
In a victim impact statement the officer said: "The incident caused me to hold my breath from the panic that came over me, thinking that I couldn’t believe that this person was deliberately trying to hit me with the car, in a bid to get away. I've never had anyone drive at me before. I honestly thought that I was going to get hit by the car... I honestly believe that he was trying to physically run me over.
"I have been a police officer for 5 and a half years and deal with all kinds of incidents within my career and I have never felt scared before as I did at the moment that I saw the car reverse and manoeuvre in my direction with speed."
Having considered the circumstances, Magistrates were of the opinion that the offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate.
Watkins-Rudman was sentenced to 21 weeks' custody.
He was ordered to pay £85 towards prosecution costs and £154 surcharge.
The court also disqualified him from driving for 3 years' 10 months' (the unusual duration to reflect his time and custody and existing disqualification).
PC Matthew Coates, who investigated the case said: "Our officers are out on patrol on the roads of Wiltshire day and night to keep people safe and apprehend drivers who pose a risk to other road users.
"It is completely unacceptable when police officers are assaulted while carrying out these public duties, and I am pleased to see the courts acknowledging this and ensuring these offenders are taken off our streets."
7 comments:
Absolute bullshit I'll post the petrol station video that shows the police charging at a stationery vehicle with his tazer already out without a clue of what's. Going on
Thanks for your comment Anon. Sorry it has taken a couple of days to publish it. I look forward to seeing the footage you're going to post.
I can't show footage as I'm going to seek damages from Wiltshire police for false
imprisonment and the police office for endangering lives by reckless use off a taser on a petrol station forecourt. drastically changing the course of people's lives
Oh, right. If there are any more legal developments on this - like the defendant managing to appeal his conviction - then please be sure to let us know so we can update the article.
As it stands the defendant - reading between the lines, which might be you - has been convicted of assaulting an emergency worker on the basis of complainant's evidence: "I saw the car reverse and manoeuvre in my direction with speed".
How can I up load a video
You would need to do that somewhere like YouTube and then post a link to it. If you set the video to private then only people you give the link to will be able to see it.
https://youtube.com/shorts/bZNVFzmqVHg?si=3yNAKp2Si7naFLew
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