MAGISTRATES have condemned the behaviour of an electrician who twice hit a traffic warden with his car as he wrote out a £30 parking ticket as "shocking and totally unacceptable".

MAGISTRATES have condemned the behaviour of an electrician who twice hit a traffic warden with his car as he wrote out a £30 parking ticket as "shocking and totally unacceptable".

Dr Richard Soper, sitting at St Edmundsbury Magistrates Court, said Bruce Harwood had then showed "childish stupidity" by speeding off with Richard Bale's peaked hat.

The magistrate, sitting with two other JPs, handed Harwood, who was found guilty last month of assaulting Bury traffic warden Mr Bale and driving without due care and attention, a 100-hour community service order.

Harwood, who also tried to punch the traffic warden during the incident in Bury, was ordered to pay £50 compensation to Mr Bale and a further £50 towards the costs of the prosecution.

After the hearing on Friday, Harwood, 31, of Lower Green, Higham, near Bury, said he would appeal against both his conviction and sentence.

During his trial the court heard Harwood had left his silver Honda Civic in a loading bay in Brentgovel Street in July last year. As he returned he saw Mr Bale looking at his car so he went over, got in and tried to drive away.

Mr Bale, 62, said: "I had finished writing the parking ticket when the driver returned. As the engine started I thought he may drive away so I walked to the front of the vehicle. He then drove forward into my leg, hitting it just above the knee.

"When the car stopped, I then went to approach the driver's door. The vehicle accelerated down towards the junction with St John's Street. The wing mirror struck my hand."

Harwood then drove on for a few yards before stopping, getting out of his car and coming back towards the warden.

Mr Bale said: "He looked livid, his fists were clenched. I was still trying to issue the ticket but I was aware that he was probably going to inflict some harm to me – he began to swing a wild punch towards my head. I ducked and it went above my head."

The warden's hat fell off and Harwood picked it up, took it back to the car and drove off with it – throwing it out of his window further down the road where a pedestrian found it and gave it back to Mr Bale.

"It shocked me. I was quite shaken, I never did manage to issue the ticket," Mr Bale added.

During his trial Harwood, who admitted the parking offence and was fined £30, claimed the traffic warden was the aggressive one.

The court rejected his accusations and yesterday Dr Soper told him: "No-one likes getting a parking ticket but the vast majority accept it. You tried to escape the consequences and your actions were shocking and totally unacceptable."