Clergyman angry at 'slow' police

A Derby clergyman is quitting the area and is angry with police after a road rage attack against him and his family.

The Reverend Luke McKenzie's car was rammed on Saturday night, while his wife and children were inside. The driver fled and has not been traced.

The Normanton clergyman claims officers did not arrive for 45 minutes and are not doing enough to catch the driver.

Police say they started to trace the vehicle as soon as they were contacted and their inquiries are ongoing.

The family had arrived home and had doubled parked while unloading six children.

On the information initially provided an immediate response was not deemed appropriate Derbyshire Police statement

A motorist, waiting to pass, used his horn and then rammed the vehicle before driving off while Mrs McKenzie and four children were still inside.

The clergyman, his wife and one child received superficial injuries.

He said: "If somebody potentially tried to tried to kill my wife and my children and could get away with it, and nothing is immediately done, there must be something wrong."

Mr McKenzie said he had reported nine incidents of car vandalism in recent months.

He will carry on working in the area, but will live with his family elsewhere.

He said: "I cannot put my family at risk. Within the next few months, I will be leaving this area.

"I will not live in this area because my family is not safe."

His wife Angela said of the other motorist involved: "I do not hate him, but I am angry he could do this to my kids and to my family.

"He could have killed us, he could have killed my kids, he could have killed any of us."

'Not deemed appropriate'

Derbyshire Police said it was standard procedure to prioritise calls.

They said in a statement: "On the information initially provided an immediate response was not deemed appropriate.

"This particular time period is the busiest of the week for officers in Derby and all units were fully committed at the time.

"However, inquiries had already started to trace the alleged offending vehicle as soon as Mr McKenzie's call came in.

"An unattended car, believed to have been involved in this collision, was spotted by officers two hours later and it was recovered so forensic examinations could be carried out. Inquiries into the incident are ongoing"

The force said the driver had not been traced, but an officer went to the McKenzie home and the family has been updated several times on the investigation.