n A GETAWAY driver who dragged a police officer along the road as he drove away from the scene of a robbery has been punished for failing to carry out his unpaid work sentence.

Lucas Lonsdale, aged 23, of Parkfield Avenue, handed himself in to police after dragging PC Paul Trecarichi “half in and half out” of a car for 15 feet in Mossfield Road, Farnworth.

He and two accomplices had snatched a bag of £500 in cash from a woman as she came out of The Grapes Inn on January 11 last year.

Lonsdale’s two accomplices were never arrested.

PC Trecarichi was not injured but was said to be shaken.

Lonsdale, a plasterer who runs his own business, was sentenced to 180 hours’ unpaid work for the theft and was given six penalty points for driving without due care and attention in October.

But Bolton Crown Court heard Lonsdale had completed only 18 hours of the requirement and had breached the order.

Lonsdale, represented himself in court, said he had not turned up for the unpaid work because he had been working in Spain as a plasterer and did not tell the probation service.

He said: “When I did the unpaid work there were no public toilets available so I went in a bush then was told to go home. I had to walk back seven miles from Egerton.”

He said he would complete the unpaid work but needed to do some paid work to support his family.

Recorder Elizabeth Nicholls said: “The current order takes priority otherwise the consequence for you and your family will be very dramatic.”

He was ordered to complete the remaining 162 hours and attend two group sessions and pay £60 costs.