Pc terror driver gets seven years
A burglar who took a Black Country police officer on a high-speed terror ride on the bonnet of his car has been sentenced to seven years in jail.
Pc Mark Plant said he thought he was going to die during the horrifying incident in Cradley Heath on February 17, and feared he would never see his wife and three daughters again.
His fingertips were seriously damaged after clinging on "for dear life" to the roof of the Ford Mondeo as it sped nearly a mile through the town in busy traffic.
Judge Sybil Thomas praised Pc Plant and his colleagues, saying he had put the interests of the public before his own.
Judge Thomas, sitting at Birmingham Crown Court today, sentenced the driver, Stephen Gilheaney, aged 47, after he was found guilty of burglary, attempted GBH with intent and dangerous driving at an earlier trial. He was also given a five-year driving ban.
Gilheaney had been the getaway driver in a foiled burglary in Haden Park Road.
His two accomplices had jumped into the car when Pc Plant ran in front of the vehicle, trying to stop it. As the car sped towards him, he jumped on to the bonnet as he had no time to leap out of the way.
Gilheaney then drove at up to 60mph swerving through traffic trying to shake the officer off.
Three men eventually jumped out of the car as it slowed down and ran away.
Judge Thomas told Gilheaney, from Kent: "This was a grave offence. It was extremely serious and dangerous."
One of Gilheaney's accomplices, Martin O'Neill, 30, from Bristol, was given an 18-month community punishment order at a hearing last month for his role in the burglary.
