Thug pushed police officer into 70mph traffic

James McVey was spotted by traffic police on a 999 call running on the A90 dual carriageway near Tealing, north of Dundee, prompting them to double back due to fears for his safety.

They found McVey – who was on his way home from his work as a builder – in a bus layby at the scene and tried to calm him down.

You may also be interested in:

Man smashed dad’s girlfriend’s car with a hammer

Fife Weather: Warning of weekend rain

But instead he swore at a bus driver who pulled in to the layby before starting to walk towards the main road.

PCs David Gray and Kevin Steele followed him and grabbed him just as he got to the side of the road.

The thug – who last year dodged jail for battering a woman in a taxi, leaving her with permanent scars – then shoved PC Steele into the carriageway.

The officer only avoided falling directly into the path of passing cars by grabbing McVey and spinning him into the front of the bus.

A trial at Dundee Sheriff Court was shown CCTV footage from the bus of the incident unfolding inches from speeding traffic.

One of the officers told the trial: “I was scared for my life. I felt the wind rushing past me.”

McVey claimed he “just wanted to get home” when the incident unfolded and that the officers had been “aggressive” towards him.

He also claimed to have made a video call to his girlfriend as the incident went on to show officers had “kicked lumps” out of him.

However, the footage shown to the court showed no such call being made, and now a jury has rejected his claims.

Summing up the Crown case, fiscal depute Saima Rasheed told a jury: “The accused walked away from the police towards the face of oncoming traffic.

“The officer put himself in the way of this gentleman.

“The accused struggled with Constable Steele and he pushed him, trying to push him into lane one of the carriageway.

“The only reason he didn’t end up on the road is that Constable Steele managed to spin them around and up against the bus.”

McVey (47) of Tayport, Fife, denied a total of six charges on indictment.

But a jury took an hour to unanimously convict him of breach of the peace, assault to injury and danger of life, police assault and resisting arrest committed on September 1, last year on the A90 near Tealing, Angus.

They found a second police assault charge not proven and a third not guilty.

Sheriff Linda Smith placed McVey on a community payback order under supervision for 18 months, a restriction of liberty order for four months between the hours of 9pm and 7am and ordered McVey to pay compensation of £300 to PC Steele.

She told McVey: “You appear to appreciate what a frightening experience this was for the police officer and for members of the public and that’s what the jury decided.

“You put his life in danger.”

Get in touch and tell us your story

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @FFP

Facebook: www.facebook.com/FifeFreePress