The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Man pushed police officer into the path of 70mph traffic
Jury finds him guilty of putting constable’s life in danger on carriageway
A man who pushed a police officer into a busy dual carriageway as cars sped past at 70mph has been warned he faces jail.
James McVey was spotted running on the A90 dual carriageway near Tealing, north of Dundee, by traffic police on a 999 call.
The officers doubled back due to fears for his safety and found McVey, who was on his way home from his work as a builder, in a bus layby.
They tried to calm him down, but he swore at a bus driver who pulled in then started to walk towards the main road.
PCs David Gray and Kevin Steel followed him and grabbed him just as he got to the side of the road.
McVey, who last year avoided jail for battering a woman in a taxi, leaving her with permanent scars, then shoved PC Steele into the carriageway.
The officer only avoided falling directly into the path of passing cars by grabbing McVey and spinning him into the front of the bus.
A trial at Dundee Sheriff Court was shown CCTV footage from the bus of the incident unfolding inches from speeding traffic.
McVey claimed he had “just wanted to get home” and that the officers had been “aggressive” towards him. He also claimed to have made a video call to his girlfriend during the incident to show the police “kicked lumps” out of him.
However, the footage shown to the court showed no such call being made and now McVey is facing a prison term after a jury rejected his claims.
Prosecutor Saima Rasheed said: “The accused walked away from the police towards the face of oncoming traffic.
“The officer put himself in the way. The accused struggled with Constable Steele and pushed him, trying to push him into lane one of the carriageway.
“The only reason he didn’t end up on the road is that Constable Steele managed to spin them around and up against the bus.”
McVey, 47, of Waterston Road, Careston, Angus, denied a total of six charges on indictment. However, a jury took an hour to unanimously convict him of breach of the peace, assault to injury and danger of life, police assault and resisting arrest on September 1 last year.
They found a second police assault charge not proven and a third not guilty.
Defence solicitor Ian Flynn asked for McVey’s bail to be continued until sentencing. Sheriff Linda Smith deferred sentence to next month for reports and released him on bail.