Van driver hauled to court for SPLASHING a British cop as he drove past a puddle wins seven month legal battle to clear his name

A motorist left stunned when he was prosecuted for accidentally splashing a police worker when he drove along a flooded road has finally won his seven-month legal battle.

Mick Davidson, 60, was driving his Volkswagen down Cheshunt High Street, Herts., last June when he went past PCSO Richard Moore.

Days later a PCSO and a police officer turned up at his home claiming he had been driving in a careless or inconsiderate manner - a criminal offence.

Mr Moore accused him of drenching him with a 'six foot high wall of water' by deliberately driving through a 10ft by 3ft puddle.

Enraged Mr Davidson was told to either go on a driving awareness course or face prosecution - and he decided to fight his corner, insisting the officer was telling a 'pack of lies'.

He spent weeks gathering his own evidence to prove that no such puddle could have existed.

The case got as far as the magistrates court but the Crown Prosecution Service suddenly dropped it as the trial was about to start - admitting their evidence was 'irregular'.

Mr Davidson, from Puckeridge, Herts., said: 'This police officer and PCSO came to my home and showed me a piece of paper saying I had been driving and careless or inconsiderate manner.

'I told them 'you're joking' but they went ahead. 'I wrote them a long letter saying I couldn't guarantee turning up to the driving awareness course because of health issues. 'They then decided to take me to court and at that point I saw the PC and the PCSO's witness statement.

'I was so incensed by how incorrect it was. I wasn't having none of it. It was a complete pack of lies. 'I'm not the kind of person who goes about looking for a copper to splash.

'I have never denied that the road was flooded. And I have never denied that I could have accidentally splashed the PCSO.

'But there is no way there was one puddle of those exact measurements on the road. The whole road was puddles.'

Stevenage magistrates were told the statements of PCSO Moore and a Turkish witness were similar - including identical spelling mistakes.

The witness used an interpreter, but the court found there was no interpreter's signature on the original statement and dropped the case.

Mr Davidson says he has received no apology from the police, who he blasted for wasting time and money on the case.

He said: 'They expected me to cave in, but I refused to give up. I went back to where it happened five times to gather information. 'I cannot believe we went all the way to court over a puddle. What a waste of money and time. The police should be putting their resources in to solving real crimes.'

Hertfordshire Constabulary said PCSO Moore was no longer employed by the force and that the case was still 'being reviewed'. It is understood that Mr Moore is now training to become an officer with Cambridgeshire police.

The Crown Prosecution Service said: 'On the day of the trial, an irregularity with the recording of evidence by the police became apparent, which meant that the trial could no longer proceed. 'The CPS offered no evidence and the case was dismissed.'

Original report here




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