A Tory councillor appeared in court today accused of assaulting a café owner and then driving off with her in his car before it crashed into a lorry.
Brian Coleman, 51, a former London Assembly member and ex-mayor of Barnet, is accused of attacking Helen Michael, who owns Café Buzz in North Finchley, after she tried to film him parking in a loading bay.
Coleman, who spent four years running the London fire brigade for Boris Johnson, denied one count of assault by beating and one of driving “on a public place without reasonable consideration” at Uxbridge magistrates’ court.
It is alleged that Coleman, who has been suspended from the Conservative Party, tried to stop Ms Michael, 49, from filming him with her mobile phone and tried to take the phone from her before a scuffle.
Ms Michael is then said to have called the police before jumping in Mr Coleman’s car to stop him driving away, but that he sped off with the door open.
Coleman, who lost his Assembly seat in May, was released on bail until February 6.
