Ely Standard Web Exclusive COUNCIL leader Fred Brown was so fed up with boy racers in Littleport that he went out of his home with a camera to record evidence himself. But when he did so, he was threatened with having his head smashed to a pulp by a tee

Ely Standard Web Exclusive

COUNCIL leader Fred Brown was so fed up with boy racers in Littleport that he went out of his home with a camera to record evidence himself.

But when he did so, he was threatened with having his head "smashed to a pulp" by a teenage driver who was doing handbrake turns in St George's Medical Centre car park.

18-year-old Jason Woodbridge had been "showboating to his audience" according to Cllr Brown, as a terrified young girl watched from the pavement.

At Ely courthouse on Thursday, prosecutor Laura Mardell told how Cllr Brown was at home in Parson's Lane when Woodbridge was seen performing handbrake turns and "do-nuts" in the surgery car park.

"Mr Brown was so shocked that he decided to take a camera outside. There were a number of unattended vehicles there, and children in a nearby play area," she said.

But by the time Cllr Brown got outside, Woodbridge had swapped places, and was in the passenger seat of a Vauxhall Corsa.

The 18-year-old, of Steward Close, Stuntney, got out of the car and was abusive as he asked if there was a problem.

He then said: "If you want to make something of it, I will smash your head to pulp."

When arrested, Woodbridge admitted that his driving in the car park at St George's Medical Centre in Parsons Lane had been dangerous.

He admitted using threatening behaviour towards Cllr Brown and driving without due care and attention during the incident that happened around 5.10pm on August 19.

Representing himself, Woodbridge told the court: "I am sorry for my actions. I need my licence to get about, and find a job."

He was ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work, five points were put on his licence, and he must pay £60 costs.

Presiding magistrate Bryant Watson told Woodbridge: "It was a stupid thing to do. This court will not tolerate this type of behaviour."

After the court case, Cllr Brown praised the police, who he has criticised in the past for not responding to incidents quickly enough. "When I phoned the police I said you're probably not interested, but they arrested the youth in 20 minutes."

This was the second time Cllr Brown has tried to tackle anti-social behaviour in his home village. Last year he was found not guilty of assaulting a teenage boy who he slapped, after finding him vandalising the launderette he owns.

He asked fellow Littleport residents to support him in his quest to stop anti-social behaviour. "I don't want to be the one that does it all," he said. If everybody else stands up in one form or another and the police are continuing to give us the support we need, these people will learn."

He said added that he was worried about reprisals, not from his own point of view, but for his wife. "There has been a lot of verbal since the last incident," he told the Ely Standard.