Driver punched by cop and wrestled to ground in 'road rage' row wins £100k payout

A driver who was punched in the face by a cop before being wrestling to the ground as his horrified wife watched on has won £100,000 in compensation.

Tree surgeon Shane Price was said to have been left "mentally traumatised" after clashing with Insp Jonathan Mellor, who had more than 30 years' service, in a "road rage" row on the A46 between Newark and Lincoln on 26 May 2021. In footage recorded at the scene Insp Mellor, from Lincolnshire Police, was seen to punch Mr Price before stamping on his foot and using foul language. He yelled: "I’m going to take you to the f***ing ground" and "You’ve been f***ing pulled, haven’t you?"

Mr Price has now been given a six-figure compensation package and also had his legal costs paid, according to the BBC. The incident led to Insp Mellor being charged with common assault, but he was found not guilty in May 2022. However a police disciplinary hearing in January found his actions amounted to gross misconduct and said he would have been dismissed had he not already retired.

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Insp Mellor, who was stationed at Grantham, told a police misconduct hearing that he punched Mr Price as a "distraction technique" before pinning him to the floor. But following a two-day hearing held at Bishop Grosseteste University earlier this year in January, a panel found Mr Mellor's actions amounted to gross misconduct.

Mr Price asked Insp Mellor to pull over at around 9.15pm, before claiming the officer had taken photos of him while driving. Mobile phone footage was shown at the hearing taken by Mr Price's partner, who was in the passenger seat of his van and began recording as both vehicles pulled into a slip-road.

Insp Mellor, who was in his own car and on shift as a duty inspector, was wearing a black civilian jacket over his police uniform. After an initial conversation, Insp Mellor was seen to push Mr Price as they moved on to a grass verge at the side of the road.

Liz Briggs, representing Lincolnshire Police, said the men appeared to "grapple with one another" with Mr Price heard to be stating repeatedly, "What are you doing?". Hunter Gray, representing Insp Mellor, said a punch to Mr Price's face and a stamp to his foot were a "recognised distraction technique" to "take control of Mr Price" due to his "increased agitation". He described it as a “road rage” incident and questioned whether the couple were “looking for trouble” when they asked the officer to pull over.

Insp Mellor denied taking any photos of Mr Price and said his actions were to "create a space where I'm in control of him and out the way of traffic". Referring to the punch, he said: "If I'd have punched him with my full force I would have knocked him out."

He added: "I'm going for the red area, the face, but I'm mitigating that as a distraction strike." The video footage also showed Insp Mellor using strong language to tell Mr Price to stay where he was and threatening to "put you down".

Ms Briggs said Lincolnshire Police believed the officer "had no reason" to use the force that he did and it amounted to discreditable conduct. Giving evidence, Insp Mellor said he saw the yellow van driven by Mr Price "meandering across lanes" before he overtook it.

When asked by Ms Briggs about the appropriateness of his actions in detaining Mr Price, Insp Mellor said: "I do believe it was a reasonable use of my powers. I feel I'm the victim here. I'm not the aggressor or the offender."

He said he accepted he "should have driven further down the slip road and stopped in a different place" as it might have been a safer option. Jennifer Ferrario, the legally qualified chairwoman of the panel, said the panel found that Insp Mellor's actions in punching and stamping on Mr Price, as well as restraining him on the ground, were "entirely unnecessary, unreasonable and disproportionate".

The panel also found that the threatening and abusive language used by Insp Mellor was "entirely unjustified". "The level of force used had been unjustified and could have been easily avoided," Ms Ferrario said. "There was no reason for Mr Price to have been taken to the ground and restrained as he was."

Insp Mellor "demonstrated inability in the circumstances to control himself" and there had been "no evidence of accountability" or "offer of apology" by him, she added. Insp Mellor retired from the force in July 2022, but would have been dismissed if he had still been serving.

Lincolnshire Police declined to make any further statement following the payment.