Telford man who threw bricks at police officer and cars gets suspended sentence
A man who threw bricks at a police officer and two police cars, injuring the officer, has been given a suspended jail sentence.
Liam Prendergast, 33, attacked a Pc Bates in King Street, Dawley on March 16 this year. He also damaged one marked police vehicle and one unmarked police car, both belonging to West Mercia Police, after officers attended.
The officer who was hit by a brick suffered a laceration to his hand but later recovered and returned to duty. West Mercia Police's Jo Whitehead said "the outcome could have been much worse".
Prendergast, of Farm Lodge Grove in Malinslee, was charged with assaulting an emergency worker and two counts of criminal damage to police property. He pleaded guilty to all three charges.
At Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates Court on July 6, for the assault on the officer he was handed a custodial sentence of 15 weeks - but magistrates suspended it for 12 months, meaning he walked free from the court. He received no separate penalty for the criminal damage offences.
West Mercia Police Chief Inspector Jo Whitehead told the Shropshire Star: “Officers come to work to protect the public and keep them safe.
“Intentionally assaulting a police officer, or any member of the public, is unacceptable and everything will be done to investigate, prosecute and convict those responsible.
“[Pc Bates] has thankfully returned to normal duties now, but the outcome could have been much worse.”
Learn more about West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion's Behind the Badge campaign to reduce and highlight violence against officers at westmercia-pcc.gov.uk/campaigns/behind-the-badge.
