A Gedling PCSO who was shockingly dragged along by a car in Calverton has explained how the traumatic incident has left him suffering with his mental health and constant pain.
The officer was on patrol on May 12, 2024, when he and his partner pulled up on Flatts Lane just before 9pm, after noticing an unrelated antisocial behaviour incident.
Activating their blue lights to make their presence known, they got out of their marked car to speak to a young man.
As the PCSO approached, he was about to try and have a conversation with the man who had sat down in the back seat of a Porsche.
But things began to take a turn when he attempted to shut the door and refused to talk.
Fifty-eight-year-old Lorna Thompson, the driver of the vehicle, returned after visiting a nearby store and briefly spoke with the PCSOs before ordering the man to “close the door”, repeatedly.
What happened next was shocking, as the PCSO – who didn’t hear the electric car starting – was holding onto the bodywork when Thompson decided to drive off.
This caused the PCSO to be dragged a few feet and fall to the concrete and hit his shoulder, head, and knee.
In the job for less than a year when this happened and wanting to help serve and protect his community, the PCSO has been left suffering the physical and mental effects of the traumatic experience, one year on.
“I don’t go to work to get assaulted. I’ve only ever wanted to help people but this has changed my life and still affects me to this day,” the PCSO explained.
“We get abuse for doing our job but this has never stopped me from taking pride in what I do.
“I’d been verbally assaulted before, but never physically hurt until that night.
“There were many times when I thought I should quit my job as a PCSO and work in a shop due to fear of being assaulted again.
“It’s taken me a while to gain the confidence to go to jobs by myself and I’m always wary now.
“I also now suffer with constant pain in my shoulder and have had to have physio to help me manage but the mental effects, I don’t think they’ll ever leave me fully.”
After fleeing the scene in an attempt to evade responding officers, PCs and sergeants from response, neighbourhood policing teams and our operational support unit quickly got to work to find the suspect.
Heading straight to Thompson’s house to try to find her and the car, they found the property empty, but after a quick search discovered a separate key to a Ford van.
The van was later spotted shortly before 12.30am (13 May) just hours after the incident, driving in the dark without its lights on and matching the description of the one they were searching for.
After being removed from the van, she was arrested and taken into custody, having failed to evade our officers.
The PCSO explained how if Thompson had listened and spoken to them no one would have been arrested.
He added: “If Thompson didn’t drive off while I was speaking to the man, none of this would have ever happened. I wouldn’t have been injured, have to live with the constant fear of being assaulted, or suffer with my mental health.
“Underneath my uniform, I am human like everyone else and should be treated as such.”
Thompson, of Foxwood Lane, Woodborough, appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Monday (30 June) having pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
She was handed a four-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months.
Chief Inspector for Gedling, Riz Khan, said: “Our PCSO was just trying to do his job. Whether they’re PCs, PCSOs, or Sergeants or in other officer roles – no one deserves to be assaulted for simply doing their job.
“The actions of Thompson have had a detrimental effect on this PCSO, and it’s taken a huge amount of courage for him to come back to work and continue to protect his community.
“That’s exactly the type of person we want keeping our public safe.
“Thanks to the hard work of our officers from different teams responding to this incident we were able to find and arrest Thompson within just hours of the crime happening, investigate and get her before the courts.
“This incident could have easily been much more serious, and I hope Thompson will take the time to think about her actions and the impact this has had on the PCSO.”
I sincerely hope he recovers soon. Sounds like he had a horrible ordeal