Wanted thug attacked PCSOs in Retford with concrete slab from skip

A wanted Retford man lashed out with a concrete slab and a piece of wood when police officers tried to detain him, a court heard.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.Mansfield Magistrates Court.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.

CCTV captured Brian Carr as he grabbed the makeshift weapons from a skip on Exchange Street, in Retford, on January 12, when the two Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) approached him.

He swung the slab at an officer who used his bike to defend himself, said Neil Hollett, prosecuting.

“He then returned to the skip and grabbed a piece of wood, which he swung four or five times, hitting the bike and the officer.”

The other PCSO used a traffic cone to defend himself in the fracas, he said. Other officers arrived in a police car and Carr was arrested.

The officer with the pushbike was left with a three inch cut to his left forearm and a five to six inch cut on his left thigh, as well as bruising, the court heard.

Carr had been released from prison in October, but failed to attend any probation meetings and a warrant was issued for his arrest for a bail offence on January 12, the court heard.

The PCSOs recognised him and tried to detain him.

Morgan Hogarth, mitigating, said Carr had been regularly arrested by police in the past and “believes he has been persecuted.”

He said Carr’s ex-partner and children had been involved in a traffic accident in Gainsborough, and he had been trying to find out about their condition.

He had lost his phone and was “suffering significant distress.”

Carr, 40, whose last address was Grove Street, admitted assault and affray when he appeared before Mansfield magistrates on Thursday, after previously denying the charges.

Chairman Ian Pike said the assault was “particularly nasty and aggressive.”

“If the PCSO hadn’t got his bike to defend himself things might have been even worse.”

Carr was imprisoned for six months and ordered to pay £115 compensation to the injured PCSO.

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