Drunk goaded police before being tasered

Wigan and Leigh Magistrates Court heard that Martin McGowan acted aggressively towards officers as they search for another man he had been seen with earlier in the day.

After a barage of abuse and aggressive behaviour which showed no sign of ending, an officer discharged a taser round at the 29-year-old, causing him to fall to the ground before he was arrested.

Police had initially been called to reports of a man brandishing a knife in the middle of Water Street, Atherton.

The pair had split by the time police arrived on the scene, but noted that McGowan seemed drunk, was unsteady on his feet and was acting aggressively.

An officer approached him and asked if he had seen the man they were searching for, to which he replied: “He’s in my gaff.”

As McGowan began walking towards the officers in an aggressive manner, they activated their body cameras and withdrew their CS spray cannisters from their belts.

It was at this point that the drunken man pulled his keys out of his pocket and brandished them in front of the police, and goaded them by saying: “I dare you to snatch them,” before telling them to “**** off.”

He continued: “**** off, you’re ruining my life. Take my keys, I dare you.”

McGowan’s aggression escalated, and when he refused to hand over his keys several times, he was tasered. He suffered minor injuries as he fell to the ground.

But whilst pleading guilty to being drunk and disorderly, McGowan’s solicitor, Ged Frazer said his client did not accept everything in the police’s account of events.

“He’s obviously not happy about being threatened with a taser,” he added. He was cocky and shouldn’t have gotten involved. Mr McGowan regrets what he did, and says he won’t be making that mistake again.”

McGowan was fined £195 over the incident.