Man tried to strip naked in police van during ‘reckless episode’

A 51-year-old who repeatedly tried to take his trousers off while in a police van ended up kicking an officer.Raymond Bonnett, currently of no fixed address but from the Lynn area, appeared at the town’s magistrates’ court on Thursday, where he admitted assaulting a police officer.The incident took place on May 14, when Bonnett was being arrested for unrelated matters. He was struggling throughout the arrest and was not complying.

He was placed in a van, where he started to strip naked. Bonnett began taking off his jogging bottoms, and the police tried getting hold of him.During the process, Bonnett kicked out, striking an officer in the kneecap, causing him to twist the joint.Bonnett, who appeared in court alongside his assistance dog Pixie, had previously committed a total of 43 offences. In mitigation, Ruth Johnson told the court that Bonnett did not intentionally kick the officer.“His memory is not the greatest. He has no idea why he tried to take his trousers off,” she said. “It was a reckless episode. He did not mean to injure the officer.“If he had not been in the drunken state he was in from the start, he wouldn’t have been arrested in the first place.”Ms Johnson said that there were no lasting injuries to the police officer. Bonnett was ordered to pay £100 in compensation to the officer along with a £100 fine.He will also pay a £40 victim surcharge and £45 in court costs.