Owner drove off in untaxed van being seized by police
AMAN prevented police from seizing his untaxed van – ‘because it contained beds for relatives affected by the Bosley disaster’.
Mark Holden, 41, was storing furniture for his mum and step-dad who were being treated in hospital, a court heard.
The court was told that when he found police impounding his Fiat Ducato and refused to allow him to get the beds, he reacted.
Holden jumped into the van and managed to drive away, breaking free of chains fitted by the recovery worker, the court heard.
Holden, of Flying Fields Drive, Macclesfield, was charged with dangerous driving but was found not guilty after a trial at Chester Crown Court.
He admitted wilfully obstructing PC Harding and was fined £300.
A court was told that on August 3, 2015, PC Harding and a recovery vehicle from the Mansfield Group attended the cul-de-sac to impound the untaxed van.
The court heard that when Holden arrived the recovery worker had backed up a flatbed truck to the van and attached chains to its axle.
PC Harding told the court that after he refused to allow Holden to access the van he ‘ heard the Fiat’s door go, the engine start and vehicle begin to reverse’.
Holden told the court that he drove ‘very slowly’ to avoid PC Harding and to ‘make sure the chains came loose’.
In his police interview he told officers: “I couldn’t bear the beds being taken.”
He said: “My mum and step-dad were both involved in a big disaster.
“There were both in hospital at the time. I was determined to get those beds out of the van.”
Sentencing, Craig Shepton, the recorder for Chester, said: “This was an extremely foolish thing to do.
“Although it was not a dangerous thing to do it could have had very serious consequences.”
After the hearing, he told the Express they had been affected by the Bosley disaster.