Lockdown cricket player stole officer’s bike, causing ‘ultimate’ humiliation
A POLICE community support officer (PCSO) had his bike stolen by an “infantile” cricket player when he tried to break up a match taking place during lockdown, a court has heard.
A mobile phone video, showing the distressed officer who had tried to break up the game on May 4 because it was contravening Covid-19 regulations, went viral around the world.
Yesterday, Hassan Ali was starting a night-time curfew for the incident, imposed by a judge who heard that he had been part of a group of around 20 men which had taunted PCSO William Jones at a recreation ground in Slough.
Ali, then took his bike, riding it around in front of him. He admitted stealing the bike and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause alarm or distress.
PCSO Jones, in a victim impact statement, said: “I made the decision to engage with a large group playing cricket because they were completely disregarding government guidelines.
“Previously when I have approached groups to disperse them, they have dispersed without issue. I realised this group were not going to do this [they] were very intimidating, circling around me. Some of them had cricket bats with them that they could use as weapons. They took my bike to try to goad me into chasing after it.
“I decided to stay calm and focus more on them congregating... I was worried that the videos would hurt Thames Valley Police’s reputation, as it made me look incompetent. I felt humiliated and angry by the way I had been treated by the group.”
At Reading magistrates’ court, Judge
Goozee dealt Ali a six-week community order, which carried an electronic monitoring tag, requiring him to be at home from 8pm to 6am.
He said: “When PCSO Jones was doing his job as a police support officer to uphold government regulations and disperse you, your behaviour in taking his bike and then partaking in that public order offence, I fully accept, as PCSO Jones says, caused him the ultimate amount of humiliation and embarrassment. Your behaviour was infantile.”
Ali was ordered to pay costs of £85.