Ex-royal guard drove into girl then sped off
A FORMER police marksman who guarded prime ministers and the Queen has been jailed for six months for driving into a five-yearold girl as she crossed a road.
Geoffrey Platt, 60, served in the Metropolitan Police for 25 years and was an advanced police driver.
But a court heard he injured Tegan Jones, now seven, after refusing to wait for a group of children to cross a road on Nov 20, 2013. Platt was in his Land Rover when a school traffic warden stopped cars to allow the group to cross at Burnwood Community School in Stokeon-Trent, Staffs.
Platt, whose car was the second in the queue, started to sound his horn as the parents and schoolchildren reached the central island.
As they started to cross the last part of the street, Platt drove on the wrong side of the road towards the group. A court heard he then ploughed into the youngster, leaving her with injuries to her right shoulder and arm before driving away.
The girl’s mother, who was with her when she was injured, said her daughter had been left terrified of crossing the road.
Shelley Jones said: “She is terrible if we have to cross the road – she doesn’t like doing it even if it is completely clear and she holds my hand as tight as she can.”
In his former career, Platt had spoken of sitting “in the private homes of Margaret Thatcher, Harold Wilson, James Callaghan and John Major” and of following the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on engagements.
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was jailed for six months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Judge David Fletcher said: “You are an advanced police driver. That fills me with surprise having seen the footage. It was a catastrophic decision. It is highly fortunate there was no really serious injury occasioned.”
Platt, from Stoke-on-Trent, was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.