UK Police Officer treated as a criminal for trying to protect the public

As motorbike thugs sped towards a fellow officer, special constable Andrew Blades used his patrol car as a barrier to try to cut them off.

But rather than being hailed a hero, Acting Sergeant Blades, who had been volunteering with the police for six years, was hauled to court and convicted of dangerous driving.

As a result, he was left with a criminal record and lost his driving instructor job.

Mr Blades had parked across the road to stop yobs racing down it – and to back up his colleague as the illegal off-road bikes roared towards him.

One of the unlicensed and uninsured riders fled while the other skidded into the stationary police car as he tried to pass it, leaving him and his pillion passenger with cuts and bruises.

But instead of praising Mr Blades for tackling the hoodlums, senior police chiefs charged him with dangerous driving. His conviction and 12-month driving ban means he can never again work as an instructor.

To compound the injustice, the 38-year-old was ordered to pay his victims £100 compensation each, and the biker – who committed at least six motoring offences that evening – is understood to have sued Lancashire Constabulary for damages.

The case sparked fury that someone so committed to the values of David Cameron's Big Society could be treated so badly.

Mr Blades, who quit the special force and now works part-time in a call centre while studying history at university, said: 'The end result does not seem proportionate. It is sickening that someone who has committed a criminal offence has been rewarded while I was trying to stop a crime and keep people safe and I have been repeatedly punished.'

Local Tory MP Jake Berry said: 'It is an absolute scandal that an upstanding member of the community who has dedicated six years of voluntary service to Lancashire should find himself in this position.

'Having given up his time … he now finds himself with an unwarranted conviction for dangerous driving, struggling to make ends meet and without access to transport … I will be raising this issue with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice.' Dailymail Reports.