A drink-driver who crippled a police officer by dragging him along the street with her car when he tried to arrest her has avoided prison. Candace De Silva, 37, wept as a judge told her she thought she was above the law, but she received a suspended sentence after the court heard two of her children have special needs.
Incident in Liverpool
Liverpool Crown Court heard how PC Simon Ward, an ex-Afghanistan war hero, pulled De Silva over in Liverpool city centre on 14th September 2024, suspecting she was on her mobile phone behind the wheel of her silver Range Rover Sport. Despite testing over three times the alcohol limit, the Royal College of Physicians accounts manager told the officer: "You are not f***ing searching me - I am going. You cannot stop me!"
Bodycam footage showed her putting her foot down and speeding off as the officer clung on for dear life, shouting: "Do not try and resist me. Stop the car!" PC Ward used his Parva spray at De Silva and her passenger but was dragged six car lengths down the road before she finally stopped. He was left with permanent knee injuries, meaning he can no longer carry out frontline duties. He said the burden on others is like "living a death sentence", adding: "She thought she was above the law."
Sentence and impact
De Silva, of Anfield, Liverpool, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, drink-driving and using her phone at the wheel. She received a 28-month suspended sentence, 15 rehabilitation activity days, 140 hours of unpaid work, a £457 fine, and a three-year driving ban with an extended retest before driving again.
In a victim impact statement read at sentencing, PC Ward said: "I am a vulnerable shell of a man with no true sense of identity. When I left the military I kept a desire to help others and joined the police in 2019 to shape the community where friends, family and friends reside. After fighting for my country and its values being a police officer brought me pride. I thought I could make a positive impact - it is now hard to accept that I am a victim of crime. I nearly never came home and September 14th was the worst day of my life. I am in constant pain with the knee. It almost feels like I'm living a death sentence. I have fallen down stairs many times. I have a metal support brace and I am using crutches to walk. How am I supposed to enjoy life? I had to move house because of my needs and feel a burden on my partner, who is also a police officer. I wake up multiple times during the night in pools of sweat. I am just amazed this woman feels the apologies will undo the harm. That day she thought she was above the law."
Court details
Prosecutor Miss Nardeen Nemat said the officer stopped De Silva on Leeds Street in Liverpool as he believed she had been on her mobile phone. Miss Nemat added: "But PC Ward noted her eyes appeared glazed, her speech slurred and she failed a breath test. PC Ward requested a female officer to attend to search the defendant but was told no female police officer was available to assist. The defendant then told the officer, ‘See no-one else is coming. You are not f***ing searching me. I am going. You cannot stop me.’ PC Ward put his hand into the vehicle to remove the key and told the defendant on numerous occasions to stop the car but the vehicle moved forward and the speed increased. PC Ward grabbed hold of the steering wheel to stop himself being dragged under the vehicle and his feet lifted off the road."
The court heard De Silva repeatedly hit at PC Ward, causing lacerations to his fingers and the palm of his hand. She was also seen urging a female passenger to assist with putting the car in gear. The officer used his Parva on both De Silva and her passenger, and the car came to a halt. As PC Ward formally arrested her, she retorted: "I just want to go home to my children. I did not touch you. You pepper sprayed me. My eyes are burning." She then injured another constable when she deliberately slumped to the floor whilst being led inside a police van, causing one of her handcuffs to scratch the officer's forearm.
Tests showed De Silva had 72 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit being 35mg. Charles Lander, defending, said his client feels "guilt and remorse" and is "not a regular drinker and recognises that she had drunk too much on that day." He added: "She is a mother of four children - three daughters and one son - the middle two have neurodivergent conditions and suffer with special educational needs. She is the sole earner and has worked for four years as an accounts manager for the Royal College of Physicians. If she loses her liberty today the children will lose their home. Some may rightly think that she should go to prison for this moment of madness but this is a case that the court can impose a suspended sentence."
Judge Garrett Byrne told her: "Your behaviour was absolutely appalling. This officer was someone who was acting on behalf of all of us to protect us and keep the roads safe from people such as yourself - people prepared to drink and drive. You could have killed him. But there is one matter that weighs in favour of suspending a prison sentence - that you have four children two of whom have special needs. Although you did not give them sufficient thought that day, I have to."
