This is the moment a police officer was left bloodied after a pair of thugs threw a 240-litre wheelie bin off a bridge and onto her moving police car.
PC Lydia Cope suffered cuts to her hand and hurt her eye after the stolen rubbish receptacle smashed through the windscreen of the marked car.
She had been on routine patrol with her colleague PC Alex Morton-Nash, and managed to safely stop the car at the side of the A442 near Telford, Shropshire, despite her injuries and the caved-in windscreen.
Daniel Hodnett, 20, and his 17-year-old accomplice, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had stolen the wheelie bin from a home before dragging it to a bridge and launching it over the side.
They both appeared at Telford Magistrates’ Court on March 13 and pleaded guilty to criminal damage recklessly endangering life, causing danger to road users, two counts of criminal damage to property valued under £5,000, and five counts of theft.
On May 1, Hodnett was given a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
The 17-year-old was referred to the Youth Offending Team.
Superintendent Edward Hancox, of West Mercia Police, said in a statement following the hearing that Hodnett and the teenager’s actions ‘were nothing short of reckless and irresponsible’.
This is the moment a police officer was left bloodied after a pair of thugs threw a 240-litre wheelie bin off a bridge and onto her moving police car
PC Lydia Cope had been on routine patrol with her colleague PC Alex Morton-Nash and managed to safely stop the car at the side of the A442 near Telford, Shropshire, despite her injuries and the caved-in windscreen
‘I have no doubt in my mind they could have caused serious harm to road users that night,’ he said.
‘It is pure luck that PC Cope and PC Morton-Nash suffered only minor injuries as it could have had a much worse outcome.’
Supt Hancox went on to praise PC Cope’s calmness and said her actions had prevented further harm to any other road users.
The court heard Hodnett and the 17-year-old had stolen the wheelie bin from a property in Hoop Mill in Hadley on January 27 last year and dragged it to a nearby footbridge by the Wombridge Interchange that goes over the A442.
They then lay in wait for a vehicle travelling along the road.
At around 1.52am a marked police car carrying the two officers, who were on a routine patrol, was travelling along the road. The vehicle did not have its blue lights or sirens on.
As the vehicle approached the footbridge, the pair launched the bin into the air, where it came crashing down onto the police vehicle, landing on the windscreen and shattering it.
The impact caused the windscreen to cave in over the driver’s side, also causing the windscreen wiper to penetrate the glass.
PC Cope’s quick thinking meant she was able to safely stop the vehicle at the side of the road, where they were able to call for backup.
PC Cope suffered cuts to her hand and hurt her eye after the stolen rubbish receptacle smashed through the windscreen of the marked car
Daniel Hodnett, 20, and his 17-year-old accomplice had stolen the wheelie bin from a home before dragging it to a bridge and launching it over the side
By the time officers arrived at the scene, the suspects had run off.
PC Cope suffered injuries to her hands and eye and both were taken to hospital for further treatment. They returned to work the following day.
An investigation was launched to identify the people responsible, and on February 2, Hodnett and the teenager were identified from a social media appeal and arrested.
Supt Hancox said: ‘I hope today’s sentence sends a strong message that this behaviour will not be tolerated.’
