A company director told a police community support officer (PCSO) to "f*** off" and “get a proper job” before reversing his car twice into him in front of shocked children and parents outside a primary school.
Marcus Nicholson, 31, of Red Brow Lane, Daresbury, had turned up on Chester Road in Daresbury on the outskirts of Runcorn at 3.15pm on Wednesday, November 25, and first tried to pull his BMW into a space but his car wouldn't fit so he parked on double yellow lines.
Angela Blackmore, prosecuting, told how the PCSO was on uniformed patrol and in the area due to reports of parking problems outside Daresbury Primary School.
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The PCSO recognised Nicholson from “previous dealings” over parking and told him he couldn’t park there.
Nicholson told him to “f*** off”, and continued to repeat the phrase when the PCSO again told him he couldn't park there.
The officer began writing a fixed penalty notice and after five minutes Nicholson returned to the BMW with his daughter.
The PCSO told him to wait, but he said Nicholson then told him to “get a proper job”, and sat in the driver’s seat.
Nicholson reversed the car into the PCSO, hitting him across the top of his knees and causing his back to “jar”.
The PCSO stepped back and again the BMW reversed, hitting him, before pulling away and heading off.
The encounter was witnessed by at least four bystanders including children and parents, who branded Nicholson’s behaviour “disgusting” and were described as being “quite shocked”.
The PCSO's bodycam footage also captured the incident, which was played to the court and showed him replying "I've got a proper job".
Following his arrest and charges, Nicholson pleaded not guilty to disorderly conduct, parking in a prohibited area, failing to stop at the scene of an accident, and driving without due care and attention in connection with the incident, but was convicted at trial of all counts at North Cheshire Magistrates’ Court in Warrington on Friday.
In a victim statement read to the court, the Cheshire police PCSO said Nicholson had used the car “as a weapon” against him, despite him being on patrol for the safety of children, parents and other road users.
Nicholson represented himself in court and addressed the court to describe how a driving ban would have a "negative" impact on his life and for his daughters, who he said needed him to drive them to school and nursery, for sports activities and regular hospital appointments for one of his daughters, and he described his home as being far from essential amenities.
He said he was a single parent and also needed to drive for his job as the director and sole employee of his own environmental services company, whose roles include pest control and cleaning.
Nicholson said: “It was a silly thing to do but I don’t think it should be life-changing.”
A magistrates panel chaired by Michael Danaher deliberated over his claims of facing “exceptional hardship” in the event of a driving ban before delivering their decision of what motoring punishment to impose.
They ordered Nicholson to complete 120 hours of unpaid work, and to pay prosecution costs of £775, a victim surcharge of £95 and compensation of £100.
Nicholson had three points on his licence at the time of the incident.
Although these expired on June 10, the prosecutor and court legal adviser said that “doesn’t matter”.
Magistrates added 10 points to his licence - taking him beyond the 12-point threshold for an automatic ban, but accepted his hardship arguments and set his penalty points at 10 points - equivalent to not counting the expired points.
Mr Danaher warned Nicholson that any driving offence in the next three years will result in a ban.
He said: “You’ve got 10 penalty points.
“You can drive but you’ve got to be extremely careful.
“It’s your last chance saloon.”
Commenting on the “the most serious charge” of failing to stop in relation to reversing into the PCSO twice, Mr Danaher said: “He was there doing his job to protect the children and public and the parents from the school, just as yourself - you were there as well.
“It could have happened to you just as easily.”
