Drunk dad at Sussex graduation mounted police car and shouted ‘I pay my taxes’

A 53 year-old man has appeared at Brighton Magistrate’s Court after threatening and verbally abusing police.

Graham Smith, a builder by trade, was out celebrating the graduation of his son, a University of Sussex student, when he decided to climb onto the bonnet of a police car, which had been stationed at North Street following the murder inquiry that launched earlier this year.

According to the prosecutor, Suzanne Soros, Smith was “asked by PCSOs to get down a number of times”, to which he responded “I pay my taxes, I can do whatever the f*ck I want”.

He proceeded to tell police officers to “f*ck off”, and called one Police Community Support officer a “prick”, before lighting a cigarette and making foul gestures.

He shouted “I’m an upstanding member of the community”, before swinging his arms and legs around, then became a dead weight in order to avoid arrest.

Smith’s defence, Oliver Mackrell stated “Things got a little but sweary, a little bit unnecessary”, whilst emphasising that the incident was a “blip” with no malicious intent, considering the defendant’s progress since previous offences in his youth.

Mr Smith was given a conditional discharge and charged a total of £106. District Judge, Amanda Kelly told him “Stay out of trouble please”.