ROAD-RAGE COP BROKE OAP’S JAW

Swear rant at punch victim

A POLICE officer punched an elderly motorist and fractured his jaw in a fit of road rage.

Peter Burgum, 70, overtook off-duty Pc Stuart Box as he was cycling.

Box banged on the side of Mr Burgum’s Mitsubishi estate car and hit the wing mirror after he braked.

A misconduct hearing was told he called the driver “a stupid b ***** d” who had “nearly f***ing killed me”.

He then started to slap Mr Burgum, who took out his phone to film the officer as he backed away.

The former Pc, 44, claimed he had been hit first as he grabbed the phone and threw it over a fence, before punching the victim in Frampton Cotterell, Glos.

Mr Burgum fell to the ground and potentially lost consciousness, while his wife Caroline shouted, “You’ve killed him,” the panel heard. But despite her attempts to stop him, Box got on his bike and rode off without calling 999 or leaving his details.

Mr Burgum suffered cuts, bruises and two fractures to his jaw which needed surgery. He died weeks later from unrelated causes and Mrs Burgum said her memories of her husband are “indelibly marked” by what happened.

The hearing found Box would have been sacked for gross misconduct if he had not already resigned from Avon and Somerset Constabulary.

Prosecutors received evidence from the force but decided no criminal charges should be brought.

Panel chair Stephanie Beazley said: “Pc Box had 23 years of police experience.

“He should have known better.”