A disqualified driver who almost ran over a policeman on a forecourt has been given a 21-week jail sentence.
An officer attending a separate incident at Applegreen Petrol Station, on Great Western Way in Swindon, just after 8am in the morning of October 7, approached a suspicious vehicle. On seeing the officer, the driver reversed at speed, almost running him over.
The person in the vehicle was suspected to be disqualified driver David Watkins-Rudman, who then drove off in a silver Audi TT.
After being on the run since the incident, Watkins-Rudman was located sleeping in his vehicle in the early hours of Christmas Day and was charged with driving while disqualified and assaulting an emergency worker.
Watkins-Rudman appeared at Swindon Magistrates Court on December 28, where he pleaded guilty to the two offences.
In a victim impact statement the officer said: “The incident caused me to hold my breath from the panic that came over me, thinking that I couldn’t believe that this person was deliberately trying to hit me with the car, in a bid to get away. I’ve never had anyone drive at me before. I honestly thought that I was going to get hit by the car … I honestly believe that he was trying to physically run me over.
“I have been a police officer for five-and-a-half years and deal with all kinds of incidents within my career and I have never felt scared before as I did at the moment that I saw the car reverse and manoeuvre in my direction with speed.”
Watkins-Rudman was given a 21-week prison sentence, disqualified from driving for three years and 10 months and ordered to pay £85 in costs, and a £154 surcharge.
PC Matthew Coates, who investigated the case said: “Our officers are out on patrol on the roads of Wiltshire day and night to keep people safe and apprehend drivers who pose a risk to other road users.
“It is completely unacceptable when police officers are assaulted while carrying out these public duties, and I am pleased to see the courts acknowledging this and ensuring these offenders are taken off our streets.”
