A man grabbed hold of a bus driver's steering wheel in a bid to take control during an "appalling" rush-hour rampage outside the Queen's Medical Centre. Fortunately, an off-duty police officer managed to detain him before any harm could be done, Nottinghamshire Police said.
Earl Haye, 48, had initially boarded a separate bus and began shouting and swearing at the driver. Sergeant Graham Whitt, who was off-duty at the time, had been sitting at the back of the vehicle and managed to escort him off.
However, Haye then went on to board another bus, where he made the attempt to gain control. Failing that he fled the bus and attempted to enter a number of cars in Derby Road, even smashing the windscreen of a Peugeot 107 by punching it.
Sergeant Whitt, who had been keeping a close eye on Haye, intervened again and with the assistance of back-up managed to detain him before he could wreak any further havoc. He suffered a torn ligament in his finger as he detained Haye and speaking of the incident he said: "Something that will stay in my mind for longer than the physical pain is the genuine looks of terror in the faces of members of the public, who by no fault of their own, were involved and forced to watch Haye’s rampage.
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“I’m just glad I was in a position to intervene and help prevent a very serious incident. As it was, I suffered an injury to my finger. That’s a far better outcome.”
Haye assaulted three other police officers who arrived as back-up. Two were bitten on the arm, while another was spat at. To prevent further attacks a spit hood was placed over his head to stop him biting officers again.
Haye, of Lorne Walk in St Ann’s, was handed a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker, common assault of an emergency worker, two counts of causing criminal damage and causing danger to road users.
He was sentenced to 13 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, after appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday, March 22. He was also ordered to undertake 30 days of rehabilitation.
The incident happened at 7.15am on November 1 last year. Assistant Chief Constable Steve Cooper, of Nottinghamshire Police, added: “This was an appalling incident that could have been worse had it not been for the brave actions of Graham and his colleagues.
“Three police constables swiftly arrived on scene to help detain the man and, regrettably were assaulted. We have repeatedly stressed that this is not part of the job and any assault on emergency workers – physical or verbal - will be treated as a crime and dealt with accordingly.
“The safety and welfare of our officers is of great importance and the officers involved in this incident have been given the appropriate support by the force.”
