Police officer thrown onto bonnet in hit-and-run

Reece Wales pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and driving while disqualified

A police officer was thrown onto the bonnet of a car after being deliberately hit by a disqualified driver.

Reece Wales, 22, ploughed into Sgt Scott Sarson "at speed" as the officer walked towards his vehicle before hitting him and driving off.

South Yorkshire Police said Wales had been stopped moments earlier after he was spotted driving on the wrong side of the road in Sheffield on 2 September.

Wales, of North Hill Road, Sheffield was jailed for 15 months at Sheffield Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and driving whilst disqualified.

Mr Sarson and a colleague had pulled over Wales' Skoda Octavia in the Wadsley area of the city when the incident happened, a police spokesperson said.

The force said as the officer approached the car Wales "reversed the vehicle and then accelerated directly at the officer, throwing Sgt Sarson into the air, onto the bonnet and onto the floor, before fleeing the scene".

Wales was arrested the following day.

Insp Alec Gibbons said Mr Sarson had "only received cuts and bruises" but that his injuries could have been more serious.

"Not only did Wales actively go out in his vehicle that day whilst disqualified from driving and without insurance, but when approached by officers for the offence he knowingly committed, he accelerated at speed towards an officer and deliberately ran him over, putting him in great danger," he said.

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