Officer Left Maimed as Drunk Driver Walks Free After Just 10 Months
A Thames Valley Police officer, who lost a leg after a man smashed into his patrol car, has blasted the justice system for letting the culprit out early. Sgt Tom Dorman is fuming after Hayden Brown, jailed for five years, was released on licence after serving just 10 months behind bars.
‘Justice System Is Broken,’ Officer Rages
In September 2018, drunk driver Hayden Brown ploughed into Sgt Dorman’s patrol car. The crash left Sgt Dorman with devastating injuries and a lifelong disability. Now Brown’s early release feels like a slap in the face.
“Where is the justice for the victim? I am absolutely disgusted to find out that Hayden Brown has been already moved to an open prison and will now be allowed to be temporarily released on licence,” Sgt Dorman said. “He’s served ten months of a five-year sentence. What an insult.
“The justice system is broken and failing victims of crime. How can the system be so fundamentally flawed that his actions effectively sentenced myself, my crewmate and his passenger to a lifetime of punishment, but he gets to leave prison months later? How is this Protecting Our Protectors?”
Police Demand Action from Top Brass
Sgt Dorman has called on Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson to intervene. Craig O’Leary, Chairman of Thames Valley Police Federation, said:
“We are shocked and appalled to hear that Brown will not serve the full five years he was handed. He chose to drive drunk, after taking cocaine, and crashed into two officers.
“His actions changed Tom’s life forever, yet Brown has spent only a few short months behind bars. How is this justice? How can he be deemed safe to roam society? How will this act as a deterrent? Police officers nationwide will be disgusted.”
The Harrowing Incident
At Reading Crown Court, evidence revealed how PC Thomas Dorman and PC Wai-man Lam were “thrown into the air like ragdolls” by Brown’s reckless driving on 2 September 2018.
Despite his massive leg injuries, Sgt Dorman directed locals to find a tourniquet to stop him bleeding to death at the scene. Brown, from Suffolk Road, Maidenhead, was convicted of three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He was sentenced to five years last December — but with early release granted, questions loom over a justice system that lets those who target officers off far too lightly.
