Enraged police officer rammed teenage e-bike rider with his patrol car, court hears
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'Irritated and annoyed' PC Timothy Bradshaw caused then 17-year-old Mason McGarry to fracture his leg after he used 'completely excessive' force to 'smack' into the back of the battery-powered bike in an 'incredibly dangerous' manoeuvre, jurors were told.
The 55-year-old was said to have 'had enough' and pursued Mr McGarry and his passenger after they made 'unpleasant hand gestures' towards him and his colleague.
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Hide AdJurors at Portsmouth Crown Court heard e-bikes have been a 'nuisance' and 'pain in the backside' for the local police force in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, where the incident took place. PC Bradshaw said he collided with the youngsters to 'protect' them from serious physical harm, but prosecutors alleged there was 'no justification' for his actions.
Charles Gabb, prosecuting, told jurors that the incident took place during the evening of November 3, 2022. PC Bradshaw was patrolling the coastal town when he came across an e-bike approaching a set of traffic lights.

The prosecutor said that riding this e-bike were 'two seemingly young men', one of whom was Mr McGarry. Jurors heard Mr McGarry made 'unpleasant hand gestures' towards PC Bradshaw and were 'goading' the police officers - which he described as being an 'occupational hazard'.
The prosecutor said that PC Bradshaw, who works for Sussex Police, may have felt 'annoyed and irritated' by the actions but said officers must respond 'appropriately and not act out of annoyance or irritation'.
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Hide Ad"This defendant, for his own reason, acted on the spur the moment, maybe because he was irritated and annoyed, maybe because he had enough," Mr Gabb said.
Jurors were shown dash-cam footage of the moment the e-bike turned left onto a residential road with cars lined up either side.
The prosecutor said that PC Bradshaw follows 'in pursuit' of them, adding: "He didn't radio for help, he didn't radio for advice, he just did it.
"What he did, and I suspect you will be shocked when you see it..he quite deliberately drives up and into the back of the e-bike, badly.
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Hide Ad"What did he do by way of warning or trying to get the e-bike to stop? The answer was nothing."
Mr Gabb said the driver didn't put his lights on or sound his siren. "He didn't try to stop this e-bike for one second other than by virtue of what he did, and that was to smack into the back of it," he added.
Jurors saw the moment PC Bradshaw used the car to crash into the rear of the e-bike. Mr Gabb said that after falling to the floor, teenager Mr McGarry 'hobbled' away with a fractured leg.
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Hide Ad"Young men on e-bikes can be a bit of a nuisance and that is putting it mildly," the prosecutor told jurors. "Some people riding these e-bikes are nothing more than a pain in the back side of the local police force and undoubtedly in this country we have something of a problem at the moment with how to deal with it.
"But, what we don't do, of course, is take the law into our own hands.
"Whilst we as members of the public have every sympathy for police trying to to their jobs... you can't, I respectfully submit, do what he did because that, as it were, is taking the law effectively into your own hands."
The prosecutor said that 'deliberately driving into the back of people at a speed' is 'inherently incredibly dangerous' and said he the act was 'completely excessive in force'.
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Hide AdJurors heard that PC Bradshaw said he struck the bike to 'protect them from serious physical harm' but Mr Gabb said this excuse is a 'nonsense'.
Mr Gabb added: "No warning was given, just bang into the back of them.
"How on earth is that a lawful application of force?
"All he succeeded in doing was cause serious harm to Mr McGarry.
The prosecutor said that however 'annoying' Mr McGarry may have been to the police, 'nobody deserved to be treated like that'.
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Hide AdHe said Mr McGarry was 'simply driving down the road' which was 'absolutely clear'.
Bradshaw from Bersted, near Bognor Regis pleaded not guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving. The trial continues.