Overview
- The pair, who were sentenced Friday, May 1, saw Daniel Hodnett receive a two-year suspended term with 150 hours of unpaid work while the 17-year-old was referred to the Youth Offending Team.
- Prosecutors said the two stole a 240-litre bin from Hoop Mill in Hadley and hauled it to a footbridge at the Wombridge Interchange over the A442 before launching it at a marked patrol car.
- The bin shattered the windscreen and caved it over the driver’s side as PCs Lydia Cope and Alex Morton-Nash traveled without lights or siren, and the officers suffered minor injuries but returned to duty the next day.
- Investigators identified the suspects from a social media appeal and arrested them on February 2, then in February charged them with multiple thefts, criminal damage that recklessly endangered life, and causing danger to road users; both pleaded guilty on March 13.
- West Mercia Police called the act reckless and said the sentence sends a clear message after the driver initially feared a person had jumped from the bridge.