A special constable who used his police car to try to stop a speeding illegal motorcycle should never have been prosecuted or lost his job over the incident, the bike’s rider said yesterday.

Daniel Aston, then 18, was driving his off-road scrambler bike on a public road when Acting Sergeant Andrew Blades, who had been called out to tackle the anti-social behaviour, positioned his patrol car in an attempt to cut him off.

Although the bike was unlicensed, uninsured and should not have been on the road, it was the police volunteer who found himself hauled to court and convicted of dangerous driving.

Acting Sergeant Andrew Blades (left), who used his police car to try to stop a speeding illegal motorcycle should never have been prosecuted or lost his job over the incident, the bike’s rider Daniel Aston (right) said

Mr Blades, 38, was also banned from driving for 12 months following the incident in Burnley, Lancashire, and lost his job as a driving instructor.

Last night MPs and campaigners condemned the prosecution of the special constable, who had a six-year unblemished record as a volunteer police officer and at one time had responsibility for more than 45 officers.

And even Mr Aston, an unemployed father-of-one, said the officer should not have been taken to court or lost his job.

He described how he was carrying a 12-year-old friend as his pillion passenger on the bike and was ‘going some speed’, meaning he was unable to stop in time and so slid into the police car.

Mr Aston, now 19, of Burnley, said: ‘The justice system is madness. The copper should never have pulled out and knocked us off. It was reckless. But he should never have been taken to court and I don’t think he should have lost his job either. He was just doing his job.

‘I should not have been driving my bike on the road, I take full responsibility for that. I thought I was going to be in trouble but I’ve not heard anything about it since it happened.’

The incident occurred at around 10pm on May 22, when Mr Aston and two friends, who were both riding similar scrambler bikes, went out on some private land near their homes.

But residents called police when the trio were began riding around a housing estate, and Mr Blades and two of his colleagues were called to intervene. Mr Aston, who left school without any qualifications and is on benefits, said: ‘All I knew was someone jumped out at me with a flash-light, I swerved around him and carried on.

Daniel Aston was driving his off-road scrambler bike (pictured) when Mr Blades positioned his patrol car in an attempt to cut him off. He later lost his job

‘The other copper then tried to cut me off (with the car). The bike just went straight from underneath me and my passenger, who wasn’t wearing a helmet, went flying. We only had cuts and bruises, but it could have been much worse.’

Mr Aston, who has previous convictions for driving unlicensed bikes on public roads and without insurance, said he had not sued Lancashire Constabulary over the incident.

He said he sold his motorbike a fortnight ago following the birth of his daughter, Amelia. ‘I’ve realised I’ve got responsibilities now and it’s not worth it.’

In December Mr Blades appeared before magistrates in Burnley, where he was advised to admit dangerous driving to avoid a jail term. He was ordered to complete 200 hours of community service and banned for 12 months.

He now works part-time in a call centre while studying history at university after being left with a criminal record and losing his driving instructor job.

Martin Walker, 55, who helps organise the neighbourhood watch in Lower Mead Drive, where the incident happened, said: ‘If you’re convicted and fined for trying to help the police and the community, that’s the when whole structure of law and order starts to break down.’

Labour MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons’ Home Affairs Select Committee, said he would be raising the case with Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions.

‘This is an extraordinary case,’ he said. ‘Andrew Blades ought to have been commended for the action he took. There is always a public interest test and I would doubt the public would feel that his prosecution has been in their interest.’

Local Tory MP Jake Berry said: ‘I will be working with ministers to see what can be done to help Mr Blades. People have been rightly outraged that yet again a criminal seems to be treated better than the victims of their crimes.’