A TV builder assaulted two police officers in front of his young children when he flew into a ‘Godzilla’ rage, a court heard.
Star of Channel 4’s The Renovation Game, Huntley Thawe, is accused of shouting ‘you’re a f****** joke, I’m not under arrest’, at officers trying to detain the 40-year-old outside a McDonald’s in Redditch.
Three officers used a baton and pepper spray to restrain the dad-of-two, who got into a row about passports with estranged wife Anna Thawe, 41, while picking up his children, aged six and nine.
Footage of the incident on April 15 was shown to Redditch Magistrate’s Court.
It shows police restrain Mr Thawe after he used his van to block in his estranged wife’s silver Volkswagen Beatle.
Mr Thawe, of Kidderminster, Worcestershrie, denies two counts of assault against a police offiver.
He also denies using threatening or abusive words or behaviour and obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty.
On Friday Mrs Thawe told the court he flew into a rage and said her ‘days are over’ after she refused to hand over their sons’ passports.
‘I asked him what his plans were, and he said: “It has f*** all to do with you what my plans are.”
TV builder Huntley Thawe arriving at Redditch Magistrates’ Court, where a video of him being restrained by police was shown
Footage shown to the jury shows Mr Thawe being restrained by police officers after his estranged wife said a row erupted over passports
‘The boys jumped into his van, and I just wanted to get back into my car as soon as possible because I did not want an altercation.
‘He reversed behind me, and blocked me in.
‘He then jumped out of his car and started shouting: “Passports – where are they?”
‘I explained that I had not got them with me. He asked me why, and I explained that it was because I wanted to know where he wanted to take the boys.
‘He got more and more aggressive, saying that it had nothing to do with me.
‘He just kept going on and on, saying: “I want the passports, I need the passports, I want the passports, I need the passports.”
Star of The Renovation Game Mr Thawe denies two counts of assault after following the incident outside a McDonald’s restaurant
The TV builder was restrained using pepper spray and was struck with a baton during the incident
‘He was circling round the car as he was saying, he was trying to open all of the door handles.
‘I was always expecting the unexpected, so I was thinking: “What’s going to happen next?”
‘He’s loud normally, and when he’s angry he’s even louder.
‘I was scared of him being violent, as he just kept on walking round the car.
‘He said he needed the passports to book the flights, to which I said: “Oh, so there’s not a holiday yet?”
‘He escalated again.
‘There was a McDonald’s worker picking up litter, who noticed what was going on and mouthed to ask me if I was okay.
The Channel 4 star’s estranged wife says police arrived on the scene after she asked for help from a McDonald’s cleaner
‘I asked him to ring the police, and Huntley shouted: “You ring the police, your days are over.”
‘I was trapped and couldn’t move, and thought that it was going to escalate, as I had previous experience with him and I felt threatened – that was why I phoned the police.
‘I remember the police officer going to Huntley first, and I heard him explaining that he had come to get the passports.
‘He called them “public servants”. I was thinking that my two boys were in that van with him, and I try to bring them up to respect other people, and I was disgusted by the way that he treated the officers.
‘He talked like that to me, but I could not believe that he was talking to the police officers like that. It was disgusting.
Mr Thawe, who was restrained by police with a baton and pepper spray, stars in Channel 4’s The Renovation Game
Police told Redditch Magistrates’ Court the TV builder was ‘very demanding’ during the incident
‘I thought: “I need to get my two boys out of the van, because this is horrendous.”
‘The whole thing was just a huge anger-fest and was something that could have been avoided.
‘When the officer said that he would get arrested in front of the kids if he didn’t comply, he said: “Life is life, I don’t care what my boys see.”
‘He has no awareness about how he comes across, and when he is angry, it’s like dealing with Godzilla.
‘He has a Godzilla-like temper, he really does. He’s like a monster, basically.’
PC Simon Riley, of West Mercia Police, told the court he was the first to arrive at the scene with his colleague PC Herlihy when Mr Thawe asked them to retrieve the passports.
‘The defendant pointed to PC Herlihy and I, and said: “I’m looking at you and I’m looking to you to get those passports.”
‘He was very demanding. We asked him to speak to us in a more polite and respectful manner.
Mr Thawe is accused of assaulting police in front of his two sons after a row with their mother about the boys’ passports
An officer told the court that he hit the defendant twice on the left forearm with the baton
‘He said: “I’m a civilian, you’re civil servants and I’m asking you to get those passports now.”
‘The defendant said: “I’m not moving my car until you two get those passports.”
‘He was louder, angrier and shouting. PC Herlihy said that he could be arrested for breaching the peace and obstruction of the highway, to which he said: “You’re a joke.”
‘When the defendant again failed to comply, PC Herlihy started to arrest him, but as he was reading the sentence the man shouted over him, saying: “You’re a joke, I’m not under arrest.”
PC Riley, who was shown the 40-second video, admitted striking Mr Thawe twice with a baton.
‘I took my baton out with my right hand,’ he said. ‘I have then fully extended the baton and put my right leg into the vehicle.
‘I then struck the defendant twice on the left forearm with the baton.
‘We were determined to bring his arms down so that we could cuff him, but we kept being met with resistance.
‘As I tried to grab him on one occasion, he pushed my arm back and it hit a car behind me.’
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