Woman sentenced after dragging PCSO along by her car
The driver fled the scene in an attempt to avoid responding officers
A PCSO who was dragged along by a car has explained how the traumatic incident has left him suffering with his mental health and constant pain.
“I don’t go to work to get assaulted. I’ve only ever wanted to help people but this has changed my life and still affects me to this day,” the PCSO explained.
“As a PCSO, we get abuse for doing our job but this has never stopped me from taking pride in what I do.
“I’d been verbally assaulted before, but never physically hurt until that night.
The incident happened on the 12th of May last year, the PCSO from Gedling was on patrol with his partner and noticed an unrelated antisocial behaviour incident.
As the PCSO approached, the car he attempted to have a conversation with the man who had sat down in the back seat of a Porsche.
The man then attempted to shut the door and refused to engage.
Fifty-eight-year-old Lorna Thompson, the driver of the vehicle then left a nearby store and briefly spoke with our PCSOs before ordering the man to “close the door”, repeatedly.
The PCSO – who didn’t hear the electric car starting – was holding onto the bodywork when Thompson decided to drive off.
This caused the PCSO to be dragged a few feet and fall to the concrete and hit his shoulder, head, and knee.
“There were many times when I thought I should quit my job as a PCSO and work in a shop due to fear of being assaulted again.
“It’s taken me a while to gain the confidence to go to jobs by myself and I’m always wary now.
“I also now suffer with constant pain in my shoulder and have had to have physio to help me manage but the mental effects, I don’t think they’ll ever leave me fully.”
The PCSO had been in the job for less than a year when this happened has now been left suffering the physical and mental effects of the traumatic experience, one year on.
Following the incident the neighbourhood policing teams and operational support unit went to find the suspect.
Heading straight to Thompson’s house to try to find her and the car, they found the property empty, but after a quick search discovered a separate key to a Ford van.
The van was later spotted shortly before 12.30am (13 May) just hours after the incident, driving in the dark without its lights on and matching the description of the one they were searching for.
After being removed from the van, she was arrested and taken into custody, having failed to evade our officers.
The PCSO explained how if Thompson had listened and spoken to them no one would have been arrested.
He added:
“If Thompson didn’t drive off while I was speaking to the man, none of this would have ever happened. I wouldn’t have been injured, have to live with the constant fear of being assaulted, or suffer with my mental health.
“Underneath my uniform, I am human like everyone else and should be treated as such.”
Thompson, of Foxwood Lane, Woodborough, appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Monday (30 June) having pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was sentenced to a four-month Jail sentence, suspended for 12 months.
Chief Inspector for Gedling, Riz Khan, said:
“Our PCSO was just trying to do his job. Whether they’re PCs, PCSOs, or Sergeants or in other officer roles – no one deserves to be assaulted for simply doing their job.
“The actions of Thompson have had a detrimental effect on this PCSO, and it’s taken a huge amount of courage for him to come back to work and continue to protect his community.
“That’s exactly the type of person we want keeping our public safe.
“Thanks to the hard work of our officers from different teams responding to this incident we were able to find and arrest Thompson within just hours of the crime happening, investigate and get her before the courts.
“This incident could have easily been much more serious, and I hope Thompson will take the time to think about her actions and the impact this has had on the PCSO.”