Parking ticket driver 'almost hit warden'
A driver hurled his two-year-old child into the passenger seat of his car before speeding away and almost hitting a traffic warden after being given a ticket for parking on double yellow lines.
Michael Dilworth was stopped by police a little further up the road but sped off again as the officer reached in to the vehicle to take the keys from the ignition.
Dudley Magistrates Court yesterday heard it was 'a miracle' no-one had been seriously hurt.The court was told Dilworth, 27, of Titford Road, Oldbury, had returned to his Vauxhall Astra in Dudley High Street on June 4 to find two traffic wardens making out a ticket and taking a picture of his vehicle.
He had told them, 'I'm back now' but they had told him the ticket had been issued.
Dilworth then threw his young child into the passenger seat of the car before starting the engine. One of the traffic wardens placed the ticket behind a windscreen wiper before the vehicle moved away. She was then forced to jump out of the way as the car sped off.
Miss Lynda Gudgeon, prosecuting, said the car had been stopped by a police officer who had seen the incident and stepped out into the road in front of the vehicle.
"The officer went to get the keys out of the ignition but the defendant then made off. He drove away at speed," she said.
Dilworth originally pleaded not guilty to the charge of dangerous driving at a court hearing on June 21, but changed his plea on the day a trial was due to start. He also admitted driving without a licence and no insurance.
Dilworth, a father-of-two, was given a 14-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work.
He was also fined £250 for having no insurance, ordered to pay £250 costs and an £80 victim surcharge. Child services will be called in to work with the family due to his actions to his own child. Mr Steven Masih, defending, told the court his client's actions had been 'out of character' and happened in a 'moment of madness'.
"He had just learned his older child has autism and did not know how to cope with the situation," he said. "He is usually hard-working and a good father. He is ashamed at what he has done."
District Judge Mr Graham Wilkinson said: "You behaved outrageously. You parked illegally because you could not be bothered to park it in a proper space. It is a miracle no-one was not hurt."
