Police officer dragged along road on back by driver
A man who drove off with two police officers hanging from his car, dragging one on his back for up to 20 metres, has been spared jail.
Pc Christopher Howell and a colleague were leaving Oldbury police station in their patrol car when a white BMW passed them at speed with Laquaan Parchment-Walker at the wheel, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
They followed it until he turned off Tat Bank Road into Barker Street, Smethwick, and stopped opposite a pub on August 11.
The police halted their vehicle across the front of the BMW as Parchment-Walker, aged 23, got out and started walking across the road.
When asked to see his driving documents he returned to the car, said Ms Sarah Allen, prosecuting.
Both officers were standing by the open driver’s door when the defendant put the car into reverse and grabbed hold of his jacket in a bid to haul him out.
Pc Howell’s colleague lost his grip as the BMW accelerated forward leaving the officer in the road.
Pc Howell was dragged along on his back fearing he would be pulled under the wheels until he managed to roll away.
The incident was made even more traumatic for him since his wife had recently died and he realised how close their children had come to being orphaned, revealed the prosecutor.
Parchment-Walker, from St Pauls Road, Smethwick and of previous good character, admitted causing grievous bodily harm to the officer and driving dangerously.
Ms Beverley Da Costa, defending, said he had become a father figure for his two younger brothers following his father’s death and was starting counselling amid suspected mental health problems.
Judge Jinder Singh Boora told the defendant: “He was an emergency worker performing his duties which aggravates the offence but everything happened so quickly.
"This was a young man panicking when he had problems with mental health.”
The judge suspended the 20-month prison sentence for 12 months with 200 hours unpaid work and a two-year driving ban.
