A FAMILY man who kicked a police officer after being arrested in a Cumbrian town centre has been sentenced for conduct which a judge described as “idiocy”.
Carlisle Crown Court heard 45-year-old Wayne Pye – who had lost his job due to the COVID-19 pandemic – had been “persuaded to drink some sanitiser” while socialising in Kendal on the night of July 6.
After police were called to the town centre at around 8-20pm to deal with two men fighting, Pye was abusive toward officers, unco-operative and was arrested for alleged drunk and disorderly conduct.
As he was transported to a police station and led towards a custody desk, Pye kicked an officer to the leg, causing some minor reddening to the area.
A prosecutor conceded the kick – captured on CCTV – was “one of the least impressive assaults that this court is likely to witness”. But Pye – not currently employed and currently looking after family “with some measure of success” – had admitted assaulting an emergency worker.
He “blames himself for his own stupidity”, said his barrister, Andrew Nuttall, who noted the defendant was “actually lucky to be alive” after being persuaded to drink the sanitiser on the night of the offence. “He was very ill for two weeks afterwards,” said Mr Nuttall. “In some respects he has suffered enough for his actions.”
Pye, of Glebe Road, Kendal, was given a two-year conditional discharge by Recorder Neville Biddle, who insisted emergency worker assaults were “serious”, and told the defendant after hearing mitigation: “You fully appreciate the idiocy of your behaviour that night.”
