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Essex police ignore rock attack by 'feral' children
Page 10
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Police failed to act as truccs were attacked by trio of youngsters
throwing rocks complains operator. Louise Cole reports.
A DEVON-BASED operator has complained to the Chief Constable in Essex following an attack on his driver which was ignored by the police.
The driver for container haulier R&P White was on a sliproad leading to the Al3 on the afternoon of Sunday 15 September when three children threw rocks at his cab.
They struck with such force that they cracked two layers of the laminated windscreen and shattered the inner layer, covering the driver in glass which cut his hand. He dialled 999 and pulled off the road with an Italian truck and a van, both of which had also been hit by missiles.
However, despite repeated emergency calls from him and the van driver, they were eventually told that police units had been diverted to a more urgent incident and could not attend. The R&P White driver was pursued by the children who kept up their violent attack and he decided to flee.
Owner Roy White says the police did not contact the driver until 10.45pm — he was still waiting for statement forms to be faxed to the firm when he spoke to CM three days later.
A spokesman for Essex police says: "The driver was informed within one hour of the incident that police could not attend and we apologised for that."
However White says: "Does somebody have to die before the police will actually do what we pay dear for them to do?
"The cost of the windscreen because of a few feral children is bad enough," he adds. "The fact that the forces of the law did nothing to curtail this activity is totally disgusting. This is life-threatening behaviour — one passing car was hit with a lump of metal.
"'What if a coach driver had been hit and lost control'!"
The three children were about 11 years old. Essex police say this behaviour -occurs occasionally but is not an endemic problem".
• See news story, page 8.