A driver whose vehicle dragged along a police sergeant and left her injured after he ignored her request for him to stop has been handed a driving ban.
Ian Wright, 40, was brought before a district judge today following an incident which occurred in central Penrith just after 10pm on November 4.
Wright was driving a black Volkswagen Golf on Castlegate in the direction of Ullswater and Cromwell roads. A female police sergeant in full uniform and on foot indicated that she required him to stop.
When requested to stop fully and turn the engine off, Wright took no positive action. The officer engaged with him through a passenger window and proceeded to open the passenger door.
Prosecutor George Shelley told Carlisle Magistrates’ Court: “While she was doing so, and while holding on to the passenger door with both hands, the driver of the vehicle proceeded to drive off, causing her to drag with the vehicle and fall to the ground.”
The officer suffered reddening to her hands and knees, and continuing pain to her left shoulder. The Golf was subsequently found parked up and unattended, and was seized by police.
Wright, of Powsy Sike, Ainstable, near Armathwaite, was later interviewed by police and said he panicked because he had cannabis on him. He hadn’t realised the officer was injured, accepted his driving fell below that of a careful and competent driver and apologised to the sergeant.
The officer’s body-worn camera showed the distance travelled by the vehicle and officer was around 10ft.
The case was adjourned for seven days so that the probation service can assess whether an electronically monitored night time curfew can be imposed as part of Wright’s eventual sentence. He is due back in court next Monday, was bailed until then and given an interim driving ban by the district judge, John Temperley.
The precise length of the mandatory disqualification which Wright faces will be determined at the sentencing hearing.
