A former Conservative association chairman who was “knocked over a car’s bonnet” during a road rage row has been told that police are closing the investigation because he swore at the alleged perpetrators. The Telegraph has more.
Lee Holmes, a former Conservative association chairman, submitted footage to Cleveland Police that showed him swearing at the other motorist shortly after they had twice rammed his partner’s car.
But a constable wrote back saying the incident was “one word against another essentially” and that the video showed “your behaviour (shouting and swearing)”.
Holmes, from Middlesbrough, said the fact that he was “quite Northern and quite sweary” was no excuse for closing the case.
The lettings agency executive was a passenger in his partner’s car when the incident took place in February.
The couple were driving back from the shops when a driver in a red car overtook them, cutting them up.
Holmes, 53, a former chairman of the South Tees Conservative Association, told the Telegraph: “My partner beeped his horn and at that point the other driver slammed his brakes on and brake-checked us, which was incredibly stupid and juvenile.
“Luckily, my partner managed to brake and avoid running into the back of him and at that he suddenly put his car into reverse and rammed us.”
The couple expected the driver to pull over to exchange insurance details but he drove off.
“We drove off following him because we were not sure what damage he’s done to the car and then he does exactly the same thing again a bit further up the road – he slams the brakes on and rams us,” Holmes said.
Footage shared with the Telegraph shows the couple pursuing the red car, before Holmes jumps out and the motorist in the red car hits him.
He said the screen of his mobile, on which he was filming the confrontation, flipped at the point the driver ran into him.
“I went up over the bonnet, legs in the air, and came down on my right hand side,” he said. “If I had come down head first I might have suffered a serious head injury.”
In the footage, Holmes can be heard yelling: “Yeah, you f—ing c—”, adding: “You f—ing maniac.”
As the car screeches away with Holmes sprawled on the ground, he then shouts, “You f—ing b——”, before asking his partner to phone the police.
He then reported the incident to Cleveland Police, but was shocked to discover the force would not pursue the case.
Holmes said: “I’m quite Northern and quite sweary, but that can’t be an excuse for not taking any action against this man.
“I think anybody would be swearing in those circumstances, because as I got out of the car it became apparent that he was reversing at me and I was effectively trapped between his car and my partner’s car, so that was quite frightening.”
Holmes also said his video footage meant the case was stronger than “one word against another”.
Holmes, who wrote his own memoir of local politics, Dark Associations: The Secret Life of the Conservative Party, asked for a review of the decision to close the case.
However, this request was rejected, with the police claiming that it did not “meet the evidential threshold test”.
Worth reading in full.
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Public justice is the only way now. The police will literally do nothing to help you, we will have to adopt their methods, keep a balaclava and a baseball bat in the car.
The Police dont want to do anything these days, I have clear video footage of a theft, clearly see the face, told not enough evidence, country will descend into lawlesness.
This was deliberate dangerous driving witnessed by two persons with damage from the collision and recorded evidence. The driver left the scene without giving his identity. This is a serious offence with aggravated circumstances liable for a heavy fine, disqualification and even imprisonment.
The police should have traced the driver and checked his insurance and qualifications. Perhaps they did.
This sort of aggressive and dangerous driving is common and I think that it is often a result of drug use. When overtaken or undertaken by tailgating drivers flashing lights and when at the maximum speed limit and unable to pull over because of slower traffic, I have noticed that many of these look foreign.This is probably the reason why the police take no action. They are difficult to trace.
If he had said the driver had called him Fat, or if the injured party had been a darker skin you betcha the Police would have had the other driver in court by now.
But the problem is that the injured party is white and male and that is the lowest of the low in the eyes of the state.
One person’s word against another’s? What about the video evidence?
Quite! Isn’t that most crimes? Point being the job of the police is to investigate complaints of criminal behaviour not take it upon themselves to make decisions which belong to the CPS (as to whether there is enough evidence to prosecute) and a magistrate or judge and jury (as to whether that evidence crosses the threshold on a balance of probabilities). Think I’m beginning to see the force of the Green Party’s policy that the police should be disbanded! They really are a waste of space and public money.
Was the other driver brown?
Is there anyone other than me on this site who isn’t prejudiced?🤔 The arresting officer for poor Henry Novak wasn’t “brown” either. I know, shocker!🤯
The UK police force is mentally ill. Nothing they do makes sense anymore.
Really? Who doesn’t swear when hit by another car? Or to put it in plain English, the police have just given notice they will no longer investigate any road rage incidents.
Defund the police. I object to paying for an openly politicised police force.
Shall we wonder who the dangerous driver was 🤔
In the article it says “his/he”, so no surprises there.🤷♀️
It’s highly likely that the other driver was “known to police”, and their conduct would support that suspicion. The cops probably couldn’t be bothered with the hassle or might be leaving the other driver alone for the time being as they wait for a bigger score they suspect is likely to occur.
Or perhaps they just couldn’t be arsed / didn’t like that this chap was a Tory?
Maybe, open to conjecture.
Two more arrests after officer struck by stolen police car says Aunty.
I think we must therefore assume the cop was not swearing.
There *must* be something he’s not telling us, some very relevant reason as to why the police aren’t prosecuting what sounds like dangerous driving.
Mustn’t there…??
The police would not – could not – refuse to prosecute an offence of dangerous driving just because the victim they ran over swore at them afterwards. The idea is ludicrous. Or would be in any serious country…
What does ”brake-checked” mean?
It’s what some people do if they feel someone is tailgating them (driving too close behind) – brake sharply to indicate that they are too close. Tailgating winds me up because I always drive as close to the speed limit as I feel safe doing, which is usually around the speed limit or slower if there are cars going more slowly in front – so I am almost never holding anyone up unless they have a racing car or something. But the correct thing to do is slow down to reduce risk, or let them pass you.
Thanks. Never heard of it. However, everyone’s familiar with the dreaded tailgating. But what a stupid thing to do if somebody’s already driving too close behind you to then slam on your brakes so your car also likely ends up damaged as a result. What’s the point? Sounds like the person in the article was a retarded jackass who couldn’t control his emotions. The fact he then ran over the poor guy does tend to support that. He needs to be tracked down and prosecuted as he’s clearly a risk to other road users.
You can have more fun by not using your brakes at all and just slow down on engine braking so there is no indication. Given you will found culpable if you hit somebody from behind a wise driver will back off.
Or just rest your foot lightly on the peddle, you get brake lights then but no actual braking – most people take the hint or overtake…
Yesterday some dick undertook me on a dual carriageway approaching some lights at a roundabout, I flashed him, and got the finger on a big tattooed arm! Didn’t blow the horn, or gesture in any way just a flash!
Its not like he got anywhere, the lights were against us anyway, totally unnecessary and reckless, for what?
I was turning right, so was in the right lane!
Driving standards have massively deteriorated over the last 15-20 years in my opinion, the amount of times I see people jumping lights, or not looking at roundabouts, is astonishing – how they don’t have massive accidents is beyond me… maybe all the accidents happen behind them?…
I respectfully disagree with you. One factor you have to take into account is the modern and lazy police reluctance to do anything involving enforcing the law when they think they can duck out of it. The “lamentably poor” investigation into the McDonalds flashing incident committed by Wayne Couzens is a case in point ending with tragic results.
I believe there’s some sarcasm in the post.
Yes you would think on a forum for sceptics I would have spotted this but the Plod’s indifference to crime on our streets triggered me
Are you suggesting the driver might have a sun tan?? I guess not being able to see the video we cannot be certain that the police have applied the Two Tier rules to justice.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but hurty words are even worse these days apparently..