Desmond Ziggy Mombeyarara, pictured at an earlier hearing last year, is on trial accused of obstructing police officers and drink driving
A father pulled over for speeding was Tasered by police in front of his young child on a petrol station forecourt after allegedly ‘refusing to comply’, a trial has heard.
Desmond Ziggy Mombeyarara, 35, was clocked doing 72mph in a 30mph zone in his BMW on May 6 last year.
Police motioned for him to pull into a BP petrol station in Stretford, Trafford, Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard.
As the two officers took his details, they noticed his son in the front passenger seat with no seatbelt on, the court heard.
Suspicious Mr Mombeyarara may have been drunk, PC Anthony Hannan attempted to conduct a breath test but the suspect failed to provide a specimen three times, the trial was told.
The court heard PC Hannan asked him to put his hands behind his back so he could handcuff him, before Mr Mombeyarara resisted.
District Judge Margaret McCormack, who is overseeing the trial, heard a ‘scuffle’ ensued and PC Hannan withdrew his Taser, before Mr Mombeyarara pulled his son from the car and held him as he wept.
The other officer, PC Stephen Bielizna, told Mr Mombeyarara he could hold his ‘kiddie’, but that he was ‘going nowhere’ as he was under arrest, the judge heard.
Mr Mombeyarara began to ‘push back’ against PC Bielizna, before eventually letting go of his child, the court heard, and shortly after this he was Tasered.
Mr Mombeyarara, from Trafford, has pleaded not guilty to two offences of obstructing a police officer, driving while over the alcohol limit, and breaching Covid-19 lockdown rules.
He has admitted speeding; and driving without insurance.
Prosecuting, Nick Smart earlier told the court that at around 10.50pm, officers spotted the blue BMW being driven ‘at speed’ along Chester Road.
He described the officers instructing the defendant to pull over and allowing him to stop on a nearby petrol station forecourt.
Mr Smart said: ‘The defendant’s car came to a stop on the forecourt. PC Bielizna approached him and told him what he had seen.
‘He said he could smell intoxicants on the breath of the defendant and when he asked him why didn’t he stop, he recalled the defendant saying “I didn’t see you”.
‘The second officer, PC Hannan, spent a period of time questioning the defendant and asking him for a roadside breath test.
‘The defendant agreed, but did say ‘I’m asthmatic’ and it was at that point matters took a turn for the worse.’
Police told the judge at Manchester Magistrates’ Court defendant failed to provide a specimen of breath for testing, prompting his arrest and that the defendant ‘refused to comply’
Mr Mombeyarara, the court heard, made ‘no real attempt to comply’, before a Taser was drawn.
Giving evidence, PC Hannan said: ‘I told him to put his hands behind his back because of my concern regarding his behaviour.
‘His immediate response was “no, I can’t, I’ve got a kid”.
‘I got hold of one of his hands and he took hold of my hand and squeezed and I remember saying ‘do not, do not, do not take hold of me like that’.
‘He then began thrashing his arms out. He was puffing his chest out, he had clenched fists. He also had his teeth together.’
As Mr Mombeyarara moved to hold his crying son, PC Bielizna stood behind him, body cam footage played in court showed.
PC Bielizna said: ‘He was pushing backwards, there was [a] tussle and he released the child, who slid to the floor and he came to my side and I kept hold of his arms.
‘I said “stop messing about, you’re under arrest”.’
PC Hannan added: ‘I knew I had to take the option before he could have the opportunity to get his child back in his arms again.
‘I fired it once and it was re-energised more than once.
‘I had the option to withdraw, but I had a duty to the public. I needed to arrest him, he needed to be taken to the police station and have a breath test.’
Mr Mombeyarara provided a sample of breath in custody the following morning. The lowest reading was 36 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.
The defendant told the court he had been to a friend’s house earlier that night to pick up a hard drive.
‘I think I had two Heinekens… two bottles,’ he told the judge, adding: ‘I didn’t feel the effects of it.
‘I wanted to shield my son from the exposure to the police. I wasn’t stalling or delaying.
‘I lied [to the police] about the drink, I was just being silly. I just don’t trust the police. I could hear my son screaming.’
The trial continues.