A POLICE traffic officer trained in high speed chases and advanced motoring techniques has been found guilty of a driving charge after crashing his car on duty.

Macclesfield PC Eoin Scott Anderson, 34, was tailing a traffic offender when he drove into the path of a Peugeot 206 as he pulled into a car park, writing off the other vehicle, a court heard.

The targeted patrol officer – also an adviser for the Institute of Advanced Driving, and an observer qualified by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents – has now been banned from the wheel at work by his Macclesfield Road Policing bosses.

Anderson denied driving without due care and attention but was found guilty after a three-hour trial before the town’s magistrates on Friday (March 20).

Carolyn Viviani, prosecuting, told the court that on Saturday, August 16, last year, Anderson was in his unmarked police car, following another driver he caught speeding on the A34, when the crash occurred outside Wilmslow Train Station.

He slammed on the brakes "instinctively" after his colleague looked up at the oncoming car and shouted stop, the court heard.

The motorist had been driving her sister’s black Peugeot 206 towards the railway bridge on Station Road.

She told magistrates: "At the last minute, (the defendant’s car) turned in front of me. I slammed my brakes on and hoped for the best. I skidded a little and collided with the car."

Nobody was injured, but her car was written off, magistrates were told.

In a police interview played at the trial, the defendant said he had never crashed in 16 years’ driving, and added: "When I decided to turn into the station, (the Peugeot) was about 60ft away, possibly more.

"As I went to make the manoeuvre my colleague (police special Craig Griffiths) shouted ‘stop’ at the top of his voice. I stopped instinctively. I had time not only to listen to him but bring the vehicle to a complete stop. She was still 30ft away.  She could have gone slightly left and avoided us."

But later, at trial, he admitted she "probably" had no choice but to hit his car.

Daniel Thomas, counsel for the defence, told the magistrates: "There is fault on either driver, but is that fault sufficient to suggest that the (defendant) was inconsiderate or careless? No."

Mrs Ros Kendall, chairman of the bench, told the defendant: "We are rejecting your evidence in relation to stopping the car when Mr Griffiths shouted stop. We believe the stop occurred on impact with the other vehicle. The time for (her) to react was insufficient."

Anderson, who lives in Middlewich, was fined £400, and given five penalty points on his driving licence. He was also ordered to pay court costs of £450.

A police spokeswoman said yesterday: "PC Anderson will now undertake a police driving assessment to identify areas where training and development are required."

She added he would not be able to drive a constabulary vehicle until the assessment was completed.