A parish councillor has been fined after throwing himself on the floor in a drunken rage during a late-night incident at Preston bus station.
William Proctor – known locally as Jim – stood shamefaced in the dock at Preston Magistrates’ Court as he admitted a charge of being drunk and disorderly in a public place.
He told the court yesterday he had been scattering a friend’s ashes and was in considerable pain from a condition in his arms when the driver refused to accept his bus pass on November 16.
But when police arrived, Proctor, 68, a member of the Neighbourhood Watch committee, became abusive and threw himself on the floor, making “strange noises”, the court heard.
Officers were dealing with a collision at the bus station at around 11.30pm, which was causing delays to services.
But they were called to a nearby bus where they discovered Proctor standing in the doorway, shouting and demanding to be taken home.
PC Carr asked him to stop shouting, explaining the bus driver was not able to take him because of the delays but that alternative transport would be arranged.
But the councillor, of Raikes Road, Great Eccleston, started shouting in the officer’s face and threw himself on to his back, flailing his arms and legs around.
Mr Foster, prosecuting, said: “Proctor continued making very strange noises and was shouting and screaming. He wasn’t prepared to be taken into custody. He was taken to the police station where he continued in the same way for quite a long time.”
Proctor explained to the court he was in pain and was on morphine and steroids for his condition.
He told the court: “I don’t recall much. I am very sorry. I think in the circumstances I know I shouldn’t have argued.
“It was the pain and my reaction to it. The bus driver wouldn’t accept my pass.”
Magistrates ordered the Great Eccleston parish councillor to pay a £37 fine, £50 prosecution costs and a £20 victim surcharge.