Police 'let down ex-officer in neighbours row'

Martin McKeown, 54, said he believed he was doing the right thing when he tried to make a citizen's arrest of one neighbour, and ended up wrestling on the ground with another.

But a judge ruled he had been "utterly unreasonable and disproportionate" and found him guilty of three counts of assault.

The judge also found McKeown guilty of driving without due care and attention after he backed into a neighbour's parked car, and said it was "beyond belief" he had denied this offence after watching the incident on video.

But a senior officer from Humberside Police told Bridlington Magistrates Court the force's response to McKeown's complaints of anti-social behaviour by neighbours had been "very poor".

Referring to a meeting he had with McKeown after taking over the town's neighbourhood policing team, Insp Colin Waddington said: "I did say you have had a very poor service. I said had I been in charge I would have dealt with things differently. I said you'd been let down."

He added: "But I think I did tell you to try to trust us, you had a new person at the helm. I wanted to work with you, I understood the situation you were in."

On February 23, McKeown, a former acting inspector with West Yorkshire Police, "arrested" his next-door neighbour Michael Barr, 50, claiming he had charged down his drive shouting abuse.

Mr Barr's disabled wife Patricia, 52, was knocked over in the struggle and the couple both made separate complaints to police.

District judge Frederick Rutherford said McKeown's actions were "totally and utterly unreasonable".

On March 4, McKeown had gone to the home of his other neighbour, Mary Eyre, to report the collision with her car. Her ex-husband, Barry Eyre, said he went to "confront" McKeown, believing he had done it deliberately.

Mr Eyre, 54, walked up to him so their foreheads touched and McKeown pushed him over and pinned him to the ground, claiming he was acting in self-defence.

He told the court Mr Eyre made threats to kill him and shouted for someone to "hit him over the head with a ******* brick". McKeown then banged Mr Eyre's head on the floor.

The judge said this was "totally and utterly disproportionate, an act of anger which could have caused him serious injury".

During yesterday's hearing, Police Community Support Officer Liam Whittington admitted passing on a threat to McKeown from Mr Barr, in which he said if he continued being a problem there would be "more lights flashing, more music, more noise".

McKeown, who defended himself, asked the PCSO if he thought he had acted correctly.

"In hindsight, learning from experiences, it probably wasn't best to do that," he replied.

Sentencing McKeown, the judge told him: "We have heard the inspector say he spoke to all three families and said you had a rough time.

"But that rough time led you to violence and brought you before this court.

"In your particular case the adrenaline and the fact you felt you have a given right to tackle anti-social behaviour led you to aggression and violence.

"What you did was wrong, Mr McKeown. I don't feel for an instant that you are an outwardly wicked person and by nature of your character and previous life, just the opposite.

"But you have taken it onto yourself to do something you shouldn't."

McKeown said afterwards: "I'm shell-shocked. I never in a million years thought I'd find myself in a court of law faced with these allegations. After three years I in particular have responded in the best way I could. All along I believed I was standing up to anti-social behaviour."

McKeown, of Clarke Crescent, Bempton, East Yorkshire, was fined 1,500 and ordered to pay 450 costs with three penalty points on his driving licence.

Forces accused over street yobs

Police forces across the country have this week been accused of not treating anti-social behaviour seriously enough.

As reported in the Yorkshire Post yesterday, the UK's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Denis O'Connor, said police did not treat the problem as a crime and claimed officers had been "retreating from the streets" since the 1970s.

A report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary found more than 26 incidents of anti-social behaviour take place every minute.

As many as one in three people who complain experience repercussions as a result, a figure which rises if the victims are disabled. Forty-eight per cent of people avoid certain streets, and 41 per cent avoid going out at night.