May 12, 2022 5.00 pm This story is over 22 months old

Lincolnshire Police inspector cleared of A46 assault may face misconduct hearing

He was found not guilty of assault on a member of the public

Footage shows the phone recording of the incident on the A46 Lincoln.
By Local Democracy Reporter

An inspector for Lincolnshire Police could face a misconduct hearing, after a judge cleared him of assault over a ‘road rage’ incident on the A46. In the meantime he will perform non-operational duties

Inspector Jonathan Mellor, based in Grantham, appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, May 11 in connection with an incident caught on video on the A46 in May last year.

Video footage appears to show Mellor punching member of the public Shane Price, before deliberately stamping on his foot, repeatedly swearing at him and pinning him to the ground. Read the full court report on The Lincolnite here.

Mellor was driving his own personal car with his police uniform being “anonymised” by a zipped-up civilian jacket, and the 52-year-old was cleared of an assault claim at the court hearing.

He claimed to have acted in self-defence, and the judge deemed Mr Price to not be a “very credible witness”, leading to the not guilty verdict.

Lincolnshire Police has now confirmed that Inspector Mellor will return to perform “non-operational duties” on the force, but will now also consider an internal misconduct process.

This is to establish if the standards of professional behaviour have been breached, with the Nottingham Magistrates Court hearing looking at a charge of common assault rather than a breach of police standards.