Passenger, 20, no longer faces trial

A man alleged to have torched a car after it knocked down a police officer in a suspected hitand-run no longer faces trial.

Benjamin Wilson was a passenger in a Vauxhall Vectra driven by Barry Rossiter when it struck PC Adam Staughton on January 26 this year.

The officer was on foot in Coulter Road, Ashford, near the junction with Hedgers Way at the time, and suffered serious injuries requiring hospital treatment.

Following his arrest, 24-yearold Rossiter, of Nickley Wood, Ashford, was charged with attempted murder and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Mr Wilson, then just 19, was accused of having set fire to the vehicle, resulting in loss of evidence.

Although Rossiter later admitted causing PC Staughton's injuries and currently awaits sentence, his codefendant faced a trial

Officers spoke to residents in Coulter Road at the time of the crash

after pleading not guilty to perverting the course of justice and assisting an offender.

But as the now 20-year-old Mr Wilson, of Plurenden Road, High Halden, stood in the dock at Canterbury Crown Court on Monday, July 29, it was revealed the Crown Prosecution Service had decided to drop the charges against him.

Prosecutor Caroline Knight informed the court before a jury was selected that having "re-reviewed" the case, it was felt there was no longer a "reasonable prospect of conviction".

Therefore, no evidence was offered and formal not guilty verdicts were entered into the record by the judge, Recorder Daniel Stevenson.

At a separate hearing in June, the prosecution told the same court Rossiter's guilty plea to causing PC Staughton grievous bodily harm with intent was accepted.

It meant a trial was not required on the more serious charge of attempted murder or the offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Sentencing for the incident, as well as a separate assault by Rossiter on a second police officer on February 2, was adjourned so a report considering any danger he may pose to the public could be compiled.

But Rossiter, who has a previous conviction for violence, was warned that a jail term was "a certainty" and the need for such an assessment was simply to decide the length of time he would have to spend behind bars.