Man arrested for throwing snowball

A man has been handcuffed and hauled into court for throwing a snowball at a police officer. Dean Smith had been playing with his family after a Christmas shopping trip when he decided to take aim at the female officer. He thought nothing more of the incident until three days later when police arrived at his house to arrest him. They handcuffed him, took him off in a white van and charged him with common assault. He has appeared before magistrates in Derby and now faces an anxious Christmas as prosecutors decide whether to go ahead with the case against him.

"It's pathetic. I threw the snowball as a joke. I'm not even sure it hit her. The police have been telling people not to call them about snowball fights and then I get arrested for throwing a snowball. I was with my fiancée and my five-year-old stepson. I was going to buy him a sledge and we'd been having a bit of a snowball fight. I had one snowball left in my hand and I threw it at the police officer as a joke. I was just having a bit of fun. And I thought nothing more of it. Three days later they came to arrest me for assaulting a PC. I was busy cooking in the kitchen, in my pyjamas. I saw the van at the front of the house and had no idea why it was there.



"They said they needed to speak to me about an assault on a PC. I was handcuffed in front of my girlfriend and son and taken away. They wouldn't even let me go the toilet. I think it's fair to say they weren't very friendly. They told me they don't take these things very lightly." Dean, 31, an unemployed welder, was shopping in Swadlincote with his fiancée Carly Bradbury, 23 and his five-year-old stepson. Magistrates at Derby adjourned the case for two weeks for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether to go ahead with case, or give Mr Smith a caution.

Speaking outside Derby Magistrates Court, Mr Smith said: "The police came round three days after it happened. I couldn't understand it. When they took me to the police station I thought it was a joke at first. My solicitor was in absolute pieces. He says that it's a story he will be telling all his family on Christmas morning. How much has all this cost the taxpayer? I should just have been given a caution in the first place rather than wasting all this time and money. If they do decide to caution me I expect an apology for wasting all this time."