Teenage e-bike rider who goaded policeman to nudge him is jailed

Telegraph

2 days ago

A 'feral' e-bike rider whose goading of police in a chase led to an officer being hauled into court has been jailed after another incident.
Mason McGarry, 19, suffered a broken leg after PC Timothy Bradshaw, 55, nudged the rear of his e-bike. The policeman was cleared by a jury of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
McGarry had 42 previous convictions for robbery, theft, burglary, dangerous driving, driving without insurance and assault of an emergency worker, the jury at Portsmouth Crown Court heard.
Now, he has been sent to a young offender's institution for 12 months after crashing his friend's car into a lorry during a police chase.
McGarry had borrowed the Vauxhall Insignia from a friend on March 28 this year, but failed to return it in time, prompting the owner to call the police, prosecutor Gary Venturi told Portsmouth Crown Court.
The teenager's sister and two other passengers were in the car when he was pursued by police in Chichester, West Sussex, at one point driving 'as high as 60 miles per hour in a 40 mile per hour limit' before mounting a pavement and hitting a lorry.
Mr Venturi said: 'He emerges from a T-junction and tries to squeeze in by the lorry, mounting the pavement, striking the lorry causing £1,200 of damage.'
The pursuit lasted about five minutes, ending when McGarry arrived at his home nearby.
The prosecutor said McGarry's list of previous convictions was 'unenviable - I hope I'm not stretching in saying that'.
He said these included drug possession and trafficking, assault and two dangerous driving convictions between 2021 and 2023.
For the defence, Paul Walker said McGarry has ADHD and a learning disability, describing him as having 'low emotional awareness'.
Mr Walker admitted it would have been a 'gamble' to release him into the community rather than give him a custodial sentence.
McGarry pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, driving whilst disqualified, failing to stop and driving without insurance.
Seeing the footage, Judge Jodie Mittell said: 'Frankly it was very lucky that there was nobody walking along the pavement'.
After reading McGarry his sentence, the judge added: 'The last thing any of us want to see is you being back here, having killed somebody.'
At PC Bradshaw's trial in February, the same court heard that McGarry had been caught riding an e-bike along a pavement with passenger Dominic Mizzi, 22, before he made offensive hand gestures towards PC Bradshaw in November 2022.
E-bikes were a nuisance for the force in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, at the time and had been used as getaway vehicles for criminal activity such as bag snatching, the court heard.
There were around 22 individuals associated with using the e-bikes, which had been modified to operate at a higher speed than normal, and McGarry's name was top of that list, PC Bradshaw said.
McGarry disappeared down a route inaccessible by car after putting his middle finger up towards the police, then 15 minutes later reappeared and PC Bradshaw made the decision to make tactical contact with the rear of the bike.
The teenager suffered a fractured leg in the incident.
A jury took just over an hour to reach their verdict, finding PC Bradshaw not guilty. He was also cleared of a charge of causing serious injury by driving without due care and attention.
During an interview with police, PC Bradshaw said Mr McGarry was a 'feral' teenager and 'just doesn't get it, just doesn't stop'.