Drunk Diversity Rep Who Crippled Afghan Veteran Police Officer by Dragging Him Along Road With Her Range Rover During Traffic Stop Avoids Prison

A drunk diversity rep who crippled a police officer after dragging him along a city road by her 4×4 has been spared jail.

Candace Desilva, 37, of Anfield, Liverpool, fled with the officer still clinging to the side of her Range Rover after she was stopped for traffic offences.

The court heard that while drink-driving she caused PC Simon Ward serious injuries and placed his life in danger before moaning, ‘I just wanna go home to my children’ when she was finally stopped.

At Liverpool Crown Court yesterday Desilva was handed a 28-month prison sentence suspended for two years after previously admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving and assaulting an emergency worker.

Desilva is an accounts officer and ‘lead diversity inclusion and belonging rep’ at the Royal College of Physicians, a role understood to involve fostering a welcome environment in the workplace and sitting on panels such as the Gender Pay Action Group.

She was driving in Liverpool city centre at around 4.15pm on September 14, 2024 when she was seen using her phone behind the wheel and performing an illegal U-turn.

She was pulled over by PC Ward, who noted she had ‘glazed eyes and slurred speech’. Roadside tests were then carried out, and Desilva was found to have 90 micrograms of alcohol for 100ml of breath – nearly three times the legal limit of 35 micrograms.

Liverpool Crown Court heard PC Ward – a former RAF medic who served multiple tours in Afghanistan – had requested for a female officer to attend the scene so Desilva could be searched.

Prosecutor Nardeen Nemat told the court PC Ward was informed no female officer was available, prompting Desilva to tell him: ‘See, there is nobody else coming. You’re not f***ing searching me. I’m going. You can’t stop me.’

Desilva then started the engine of her vehicle and attempted to drive off.

Fearing for the safety of a nearby mother with a pram, PC Ward tried to remove the keys from the ignition and told the mother-of-four to stop, before grabbing hold of the steering wheel.

As Desilva drove off, the officer was left clinging to the side of the vehicle as she repeatedly hit out at him, trying to dislodge him and causing lacerations to his fingers and hand.

PC Ward managed to hit his panic button and deployed his pepper spray – but this only prompted Desilva to tell her passenger to put the car into ‘sport mode’.

The traffic officer then used the spray again, this time against the female passenger.

After the car stopped a short distance from the initial traffic stop, Desilva was captured on bodycam footage shouting: ‘What is that spray? What is that spray?’

Upon being informed she was being arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, Desilva then added: ‘I just wanna go home to my children. I haven’t touched you. I’ve done nothing. Drag me out please.’

She then refused orders to place her hand on her chest while being detained, stating: ‘I can’t see. You pepper sprayed me. I can’t see. My eyes are burning. Is your camera on? Let me see, is your camera on? I’m not afraid of him.’

She then went on to resist arrest by throwing herself to the floor, causing a set of handcuffs to scrape down a second officer’s forearm.

The court heard how PC Ward still has to use a crutch to walk and wears a knee brace as a result of injuries to his leg, which it is feared will be permanent, as well as suffering from symptoms of PTSD.

In a statement which read to the court on his behalf, PC Ward said: ‘The incident has made me a vulnerable shell of a man who has no true sense of identity and avoids social situations. I’m reliant heavily on others and have now registered as disabled.

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