A motorist allowed a roller-skater to grab hold of his car and be pulled through a town centre at 30mph. The incident, which happened near the Nicholson War Memorial in Leek, was recorded by CCTV cameras on a police car travelling behind the Renault 5.
The driver, Daniel Borthwick, may now be faced with a driving ban after being convicted of driving without due care and attention by magistrates.
PC Mark Warrilow said that this dangerous behaviour could easily have caused serious injuries. He stressed that both the safety of the skater and of the general public were at risk as the offence happened on a road in the town centre.
He added: “This should act as a warning that behaviour of this nature will not be tolerated and positive action will be taken against anyone caught disregarding the rules of the road.”
Cannock Magistrates’ Court heard that 22-year-old Borthwick was spotted by PC Warrilow at temporary traffic lights in Fountain Street, Leek, with a roller-skater hanging on to the side of the car.
PC Warrilow told the court: “There was a Renault 5 at the bottom of Fountain Street and I was sat directly behind. I saw the driver speaking through the open window. The other male was on roller-skates.”
PC Warrilow went on to describe how, after the traffic lights changed from red to green, the young male on roller-skates took hold of the car on the driver’s side door and was pulled along.
“As we went through the traffic lights the car appeared to speed up. It continued to go along Haywood Street for about 40 metres before the young man let go of the car… There were no signs of slowing down, pressing the brakes or attempting to stop.”
Borthwick claimed he was bullied into allowing the roller-skater to hang onto the side of his car. He said that the roller-skater had been a bully to him in the past, who would constantly ask for cigarettes, drink or money every time he saw Borthwick.
Borthwick told magistrates how he was “frightened of him at the time” and that he allowed the roller-skater to keep hanging onto his car because he did not think it was safe to stop. Magistrates fined Borthwick £120 and ordered him to pay £150 costs.
He was also handed three points on his licence on top of the four points he already had for a previous offence.
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