Taxi driver who deliberately swerved into cycling policeman could face jail

Before people start assuming, on the basis of the judge's comments, that this guy is "going down", being synical about such thing, let's see what the outcome of the Sentencing Hearing is.
If it is custodial, it will be good to see such a precedent.
Now hope the same process is applied to all other cases where the victim is just Joe Bloggs and not a PC.

A summary of the Vine v clarkson lark :

tourdafarce.blogspot.com

Wonder if clarkson tweeted photo is enough to get him an empty pocket ?

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The life you help save , might be YOUR OWN !

i hope the copper thro th b****y book at him and it sets a precedent for future morons who intentionally try to hit us with their 1,2 and 3 ton boxes of metal and armchairs

This is the story of a more standard GMP response:

http://thisistheupside.tumblr.com/post/73240078092/worst-ride-home-ever

Lots of comments on here about this guy only getting prosecuted because he did it to a cop and that cops don't protect us.

I only have one incident to report that involved me calling the police. A white van forcing me to the curb then the passenger hosing me down with a bottle of juice.

I got my phone out of my pocket and reported it right there and then. That was a Thursday evening at around 6.30. I was called back later that evening at around 8pm and an appointment was made to come and take a statement at my home.

The outcome was that the driver was identified. Though not the passenger. Was prosecuted for dangerous driving. Was given 6 points and a fine. The six points added to his total and therefore he was banned.

The police seemed to take it seriously. Now it may be that they had an interest in this particular driver. He had a number of points already! Maybe there were other reports and incidents that made him a person they were keen to pursue. Maybe me being at the time 50. An advanced driver etc helped them take my account a bit more seriously. Maybe the officer dealing with it was a cyclist. I don't know But it was dealt with pretty well and better than I expected.

If this had been one of us "plebs", then the fact that we had gesticulated at the driver and banged on his door probably would have seen us up on charges and no doubt would have been as justifying the taxi driver's almost murderous actions.

It also rankles a bit that GMP can get off their arses and do something to get a proper conviction for one of their own in the same week GMP released their notes on Operation Grimaldi which amount to a cyclist degradation exercise.

It really is an out and out disgrace to be honest.

Police officer's training and experience was probably key in giving good evidence such as accurate time of offence and circumstances, plus of course the partial plate and make/model/colour of car. he may have also noticed it was a taxi, which would have made identifying it easier.

He did this despite being knocked to the floor, while the vehicle drove off.

How many of us could do the same?

The successful prosecution here has as much to do with the victim's skillset as it does with 'preferential' treatment by the Force or CPS.

But then you'd find a very proficient CPS pushing your file for impersonating a police officer

We just have to face current facts and that seems to be cyclists are fair game on the roads. Until anyone using a car views hitting a fellow human being with a couple of tonnes of metal as even remotely serious we'll continue to read similar stories...and this has to be led by government and all its departments with a thorough and precise plan of action.

Such cases of apparent inconsistency in the application of the law surely give us, a concerned collective, good reason to question any subsequent incarceration when as many of us have found to our cost the CPS decline to prosecute for very similar cases.

I love it that a fair few comments are by Police officers and barristers. The more legal industry folk riding the better. I intend to have 'Off Duty POLICE Officer stencilled on the back of my gilet. Should kill all argy -bargy dead.

Oh.The.Irony.

charlie bravo and pepelepew - you will find a minority of people on this forum have no time whatsoever for the Police and the job we do and will go as far to slag us off without any comprehension of what we do or how we have to do it so be prepared for some serious slagging by know it alls and general numpties.

On the other hand there are hundreds of people who are great craik and will comment objectively about various topics in the news. Welcome to the road.cc forum though.

The general theme seems to be 'It's only because he's a police officer'.

If anyone on here thinks the courts or CPS do us any favours as police officers then they are very sadly mistaken. I was assaulted whilst on duty and there is a general perception in the court system that it is an acceptable occupational hazard with fines and sentencing reflective of that. We get messed around with our leave and days off, whereas heaven and earth is moved for the usually non-employed defendant.

What is most likely in this case are 2 things.

1) Somewhat regrettably the investigating officers are showing some more enthusiasm than they may otherwise have done. Which is undoubtedly linked to;
2) the victim is this matter is a professional who is well versed in the evidential requirements and is robust enough to actually be willing to attend court.

Lots of people report things and think that once they have done that it will be the end of any involvement on their part. They then complain on forums saying the police did nothing.

Some of this reads like a Daily Mail comments section. The police workforce is no different to any other occupation. Some people are lazy. Some are dishonest. Most work hard and want to do a good job.

I don't have an axe to grind but I've seen too many plod over the years cuff jobs because they cannot be arsed to carry out a thorough and proper investigation for something they think is petty or not worth pursuing. That is not their decision.

In this case the point I was [poorly] making was this officer's colleagues went the extra mile and ended up getting a guy charged by presenting CPS with sufficient evidence because of the extra effort his colleagues made. The offender was not charged just on the say so of an officer alone. There would have been supporting evidence in the form of injury photos and medical evidence and maybe marks on the car or even independent witness evidence, the type of damage to the bike etc.

You present all that kind of evidence to a CPS lawyer that corroborates the officer's version of events you get a charge.

Now, had our victim not been a police officer, then some bumbling plod would have probably said to him, "it's not worth it mate. Your word against his, it won't go to court. Do you want to make a complaint?"

In a lot of incidents the evidence is there but it's lazy, incompetent, officers who can't be arsed to deal with members of the public like they would if that person were a colleague or a family member. They take the easy way out by not investigating correctly when it comes to trivial things like another fucking cyclist getting in the way and holding things up...

I don't mean to be flippant or trainspoterish ! Iv only ever seen those police bikes once and that was down at Saltdean near Brighton. They don't have cops on bicycles here but I guess they must be good hardy bikes. Does anyone know what make and model they are.

one law for the law anther for the rest of us. i do not trust the judiciary.. still, im glad hes going down

"going to court with a lack of evidence just because the victim is a police officer and all you people who are in the police know it, so cut the crap out please. "
oooooooooh!
Someone with an axe to grind methinks

6 - 8 hours for a simple prosecution file ? bloody hell where do you work ?

My Sgt would have kicked my arse if it took me that long. An abbreviated file should take no more than 1 hour to compile.

However if your talking about including the time it takes to take a statement as well as putting the file together i see where your coming from but its still a ridiculous amount of time your taking.

Clearly an investigation that has gone correctly, irrespective of whether the victim is a police officer. Yeah right...

The problem isn't so much the victim being in the old bill making the case stronger, it's the complete lack of enthusiasm off officers to investigate these type of incidents thoroughly and achieving the best evidence to assist in the prosecution. So when you say "this happened to me but the old bill did nothing" isn't because this case has a copper as the victim entirely, it's because the police didn't investigate your incident thoroughly.

There will be an element of extra effort for "one of your own" but the CPS won't decide purely on that fact

It's easy and lazy for a plod to say this won't go anywhere mate but that's just well lazy. Plod will fob you off like this.

I don't agree with the CPS telling officers not the take statements, that's BS. They review evidence the Police put before them. If they put a pile of crap investigation before a lawyer then of course the lawyer is going to say no further action. The police have do their jobs properly and investigate these type of incidents thoroughly cos right now they don't and it's shocking. I

This case was invesigated properly because the victim is a police officer. It isn't going to court with a lack of evidence just because the victim is a police officer and all you people who are in the police know it, so cut the crap out please.

It's interesting that this fellow is (but perhaps not for much longer, hopefully) a taxi driver.

As a lorry driver, a standard of driving is required of me that is substantially higher than that required from an ordinary motorist; and rightly so. If I used my lorry as a tool of my aggression I would expect my licence to be permanently revoked.

Because this taxi driver has been convicted not as a result of poor driving standards, but through a premeditated act, in the full knowledge that this would reflect badly on his profession, I wouldn't wan this dangerous individual to ever drive a taxi again, partly of the safety of others and partly to help make it clear to others that this sort of behaviour comes with some serious penalties.

It's bad enough being on a white knuckle ride almost every time I get into a taxi, without the possibilty of unwittingly climbing into this guy's cab one day.

If I was the judge, I'd be permanently revoking this chap's licence. It is, after all, a privilege that must be earnt, not a right.

why arent such actions catergorised as attempted murder? throwing a 2 tonnes metal box at someone deliberately surely is?