£430K of your tax money on poor chap who lost his job

[Ticktock]

That's terrible - but I haven't seen that reported anywhere? If you act ridiculous then you must expect people to ridicule you. He got himself into a situation, through his own actions, where people then took the piss out of him and he wonders why he was demoted, or at least, in his eyes demoted? In my opinion, he was lucky to still have a job. Does he deserve the payout? Possibly, I don't argue with that rationale - but he still needs to grow a pair.

How did he act ridiculously?
He stopped a driver for not wearing a seatbelt. The driver then made off. After 17 minutes of following him, the driver stopped when a stinger was deployed in front of his car by another cop. The police officer then went and smashed the window so he could remove the keys to the car, stopping the driver from making off again.

This sounds like a normal course of action. Does it matter that the driver was elderly and disabled? Does that mean his car won't hurt anyone if he runs them over, or that he should be excused from the law? Note that although he was initially stopped for not wearing a seatbelt, he was tried for numerous offences (including, of course, driving off), so it's not like an innocent old dear was targetted by mistake by some thicko cop who thought she was an 18 year old drug dealer or something.

[northernladyuk]

I'm sure that I read that he has started a business making wooden reindeer, or something like that, which is pretty ******* weird...

Brave man putting his mobile no. in the public domain. www.celticwoodcrafts.co.uk - Contact

[Doggy Styles]

Get a grip - it's one thing to fall over and be laughed at in the street, but going to work every day to simply be abused and mocked by your colleagues is not a nice way to live your life. It could rapidly lead to depression in almost anyone - bullying isn't funny.

WHS.

[Uncle Albert]

I'm more annoyed that the old git in the Range Rover got 20K compensation for damage to the car. If anything, he should be the one paying the compensation to the police officer.

[AtW]

Not sure why he lost his job. The car failed to stop. Does not matter who the driver was.

Allegedly his collegues thought it took him too long to break the window...

[tarbera]

surly

the police officers responsible should pay not the tax payer ?

[Wanderer]

How did he act ridiculously?
He stopped a driver for not wearing a seatbelt. The driver then made off. After 17 minutes of following him, the driver stopped when a stinger was deployed in front of his car by another cop. The police officer then went and smashed the window so he could remove the keys to the car, stopping the driver from making off again.

I agree that he was an idiot for driving off and the police were clearly hyped up but I think it was a disproportionate use of force to smash the window and kick in the windscreen causing £10,000 worth of damage...

He was driving a 4x4 with really dark windows though, maybe they thought he was a Sarf London gangsta?

[Ticktock]

Standard tactics - smashing the windows to disorientate the driver, and of course gain entry if the doors are locked.
As for the windscreen, not watched the video, but wasn't that the other cop (the one who had laid down the stinger) who jumped up on the bonnet?
And the age / sex / race / ability level of a driver doesn't matter when they've shown willingness to drive off when stopped and can quite easily harm someone by hitting them, or take up police time when they could be dealing with someone else.

I notice that all of the media reports are headlined "Police smash window of elderly stroke victim" or similar, not "Police smash window of driver who leaves the scene for a 17 minute chase after being stopped".

[AtW]

He was luck it wasn't Armored Bullet Proof Range Rover with 42mm "glass" on windows...