A police officer was sent flying in the air when teenager Theo Cranfield drove a scooter at him. Cranfield, 19, was sentenced to 15 months’ detention on Thursday, June 11, 2020, by a judge who told him it was luck and not judgement that he had not killed or seriously injured somebody.
The police had spotted a missing, vulnerable teenager on the back of the bike in the Hillgrounds and Hartwell Drive area of Kempston.
Luton crown court heard the officer produced a baton and shouted: “Stop” as the scooter when through a pedestrian alley. But Cranfield, accelerated, put his head down and elbows in and drove towards him.
The officer was hit by the wing mirrors and handlebar, suffering injuries to his arm, knee and foot. Cranfield himself was treated for a broken ankle when the scooter crashed. Josephine Teale, prosecuting, said the scooter had been stolen overnight on the 24 July last year.
Cranfield and the missing teenager were spotted the next day by the police. It travelled about a mile before the crash.
Cranfield of Ashburnham Road, Bedford appeared for sentence from Bedford prison, having pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, assault of an emergency worker, driving with no insurance and no licence and driving while disqualified.
He had prevous convictions including offences of domestic burglary and aggravated vehicle taking.
Shaher Bukhara, defending, said he had pleaded guilty at his first opportunity in the crown court. She said before being remanded in custody in February he had secured a job in Poundland.
She said: “He showed a lack of maturity. He is extremely remorseful. He want to grown up. He had a two month old baby he has not seen.”
Judge Rebecca Herbert told him: “You have an appalling record for a 19-year-old. You have been completely lawless over the last three years or so.
“You appear to take absolute no notice of sentences passed on you. You have been a complete menace on the road – it is luck not judgement you haven’t killed or seriously injured someone.
“I am told you have a baby – I hope that may be the start of you approaching life in a different way.“
The judge added: “Let me make it clear police officers are entitled to perform their duties without assault. This court wont tolerate assaults on officers.”
She also banned him from driving for four years and three months and said he must take an extended retest saying: “Your driving record is appalling. To protect the public you have to be prevented from getting behind a wheel until you grow up.”
