Policeman guilty of driving without care

A POLICE officer has pleaded guilty to driving without “due care and attention” following a crash while he was attending an emergency call.

Nathan Rose, 32, was responding to reports of a person armed with a knife when he crashed the police car at the crossroads of the B1119 and B1121 while travelling from Leiston to Saxmundham on July 9.

It is believed Rose, who is a police constable based at Leiston Police Station, was travelling at about 15mph when the collision occurred.

At South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court in Ipswich yesterday, he pleaded guilty to a charge of driving a mechanically propelled vehicle without due care and attention.

But magistrates' adjourned the case before sentencing so that a special reason's hearing can be heard.

Suffolk Constabulary last night said it was waiting until the sentencing before deciding if any disciplinary action was required. Rose has not been suspended by the force and is still working as a police officer. It is believed that the crash resulted in minor injuries to the man driving the van and also to another police officer in the car.

This incident comes as two other Suffolk police officers are facing court cases after being charged with dangerous driving. Mykal Trim, who is a special police sergeant based in Lowestoft, is due to appear at Norwich Crown Court after a crash on Tom Crisp Way in Lowestoft on February 14. A marked police car was in collision with a Mitsubishi Evolution. Special Inspector Matthew Newman is also facing a court case following a charge of dangerous driving after a journey in a police van between Ipswich and Leiston in February.