Royal Mail worker cleared of assaulting policeman

[johnnyp]

DESPITE punching an off-duty police officer in the face during a road rage incident, a Royal Mail worker has been cleared by a jury.

Worksop man Jeffrey Haynes, 46, attacked Pc Stephen Arnold after the two got embroiled in a driving altercation in which it is claimed Pc Arnold was driving dangerously.

The men stopped their cars on Babbage Road and confronted one another. As tempers flared Haynes ended up punching Pc Arnold. The force of the blow left the off-duty officer with a fractured cheekbone, cuts above his nose, a trapped nerve and an injured thumb.

Shocked onlookers called 999 and police arrived quickly on the scene.

Haynes denied assault, insisting the punch was thrown in self defence owing to the police officer's aggressive behaviour.

He said he was left with no choice but to attack the officer - who has 17 years' police service. It took the jury just 30 minutes to find Haynes not guilty of grievous bodily harm.