England Essex - Man jailed for police gun attack
Man jailed for police gun attack
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/02/196.jpg Spence aimed the gun at Sgt Huddleston as he sat in his car
A man who admitted firing a sawn-off shotgun at an Essex police officer in his patrol car has been jailed for at least 11 years.
Kenneth Spence, 23, of Collier Row, Essex, fired the weapon at Sgt Rob Huddleston's car after being pulled over by the officer in June 2008.
Mr Huddleston, 38, feared for his life but the shot only shattered the windscreen, the Old Bailey heard.
Spence will have to serve at least 11 years of an indeterminate sentence.
Spence, who only has one arm and was suffering from a drug-induced psychotic illness, had been driving around all night after shooting a friend in the shoulder.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2005/11/91.jpg https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2005/08/29.jpg I felt relieved immediately after the incident that he shot at me rather than a member of the public https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2005/08/30.jpg
Sgt Rob Huddleston
Mr Huddleston had pulled over Spence's Volkswagen Golf in Epping, Essex, after it was seen going through red lights, the court heard.
After shooting at the officer, Spence sped off. He was later caught by armed police.
He pleaded guilty to attempted murder, weapon possession, and grievous bodily harm for shooting his friend, Buddy Farey.
Judge Brian Barker, the Common Serjeant of London, told Spence: "This was a terrifying episode for all those touched by it.
"I am satisfied that you pose a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm by the commission of further serious offences in the future."
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/02/197.jpg The shot shattered the windscreen, leaving the officer uninjured
Mr Huddleston said in a victim impact statement read to the Old Bailey: "I felt relieved immediately after the incident that he shot at me rather than a member of the public.
"I am not sure I could have lived with myself if someone else had got hurt."
Det Supt Tim Wills from Essex Police said: "I am pleased Kenny Spence has been put behind bars so that he will not be a danger to anyone for a significant period of time."
Mr Huddleston received a judge's commendation.
The court heard that Spence had been badly affected by the murder of his father in 2005 and lost his left arm in a motorcycle accident later that year.
He was selling used cars to spend £100 a day on skunk cannabis and crack cocaine, which psychiatrists said sparked his schizophrenic illness and paranoid delusions.
