Template:19 May

19th May 2003: Les Battersby was no stranger to the dock of a court but even he was in an unusual situation in May 2003 when he found himself accused of assaulting a police officer, a charge of which he was totally innocent. The previous November, Les’s ex-wife Janice had started a relationship with PC Mick Hopwood and Les was unable to deal with his feelings of jealousy. Each time that he saw the officer, he antagonised him with typically loud-mouthed comments until one day, stopping Les for driving through a red light, Mick was goaded too far and in front of horrified colleague Emma Watts he physically attacked Les and then arrested the injured man for assaulting him. Torn between duty and loyalty to her fellow officer, Emma gave testimony in court that backed up Mick’s version of the story and Les was sent down for six months, much to the disgust of Emma’s husband Curly who knew the unpalatable truth.
 * For more information see Episode 5507 (19th May 2003).