Angry father’s attack on crew
AN ‘irrational’ dad attacked firefighters with stones in ‘revenge’ for their delay responding to a wheelie bin blaze near his flat, a court heard.
Watch manager Philip Marke described Vincent Bradley’s behaviour as ‘the most shocking’ he had experienced in his 18 year career at the hearing at Macclesfield Magistrates Court.
The court heard firefighters were called to Waterside Mill on Knight Street, Macclesfield, to reports of a small bin fire. But crews were given the wrong address 200m away and were delayed.
When they arrived watch manager Philip Marke was approached ‘aggressively’ by dad-ofthree Vincent Bradley who began swearing and shouting claiming his children ‘could have died’ because of the delay, magistrates were told.
Unemployed Bradley, 27, was dragged away by other residents after he began shoving the smouldering wheelie bin towards the crews.
Prosecutor Kate Marchuk said: “The crew went and sat back inside their fire engine. They started to hear the sound of missiles hitting the vehicle. It caused damage to the roof and door.”
The incident happened at 10am on Sunday, July 26. Bradley, of Waterside Mill, Knight Street, initially denied two charges of criminal damage but changed his pleas half way through a trial at Macclesfield magistrates court on October 30. He had previously admitted a charge of using threatening words or behaviour.
Three witnesses saw Bradley throwing the stones ‘in a crafty manner’ from behind a wall, including his neighbour Darryl Bracegirdle whose own car was damaged.
He told the hearing: “His behaviour was outrageous. No one was in danger. There was no need to be so angry.”
Another witness Robert Gilbert said residents shouted at Bradley to stop throwing stones, adding: “He could have endangered the safety of residents and the firefighters.”
Julian Farley, defending Bradley, said: “The bin fire was below his flat and smoke was going into the flat. He was very concerned about the delay of the fire service. He apologises unreservedly to fire officer Marke.”
Probation officer Mike Isherwood said: “He was irrational at the time. He sought revenge by throwing stones.”
Magistrates gave Bradley a community order to complete 120 hours unpaid work and he must pay £475 compensation to the fire service and Mr Bracegirdle.
Speaking after the trial, station manager Stephen McCormick said: “This kind of behaviour, whether it be verbal or criminal damage, is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.
“It is beyond belief that someone could attack firefighters and verbally abuse them while they are simply doing their job. His actions could have seriously injured a firefighter on board or put the fire engine off the run preventing it from responding to an emergency.”
‘This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated’