Retired major creates dummy policeman with speed gun to stop village roadhogs
John Winskill bought the 6ft 6in mannequin named Wilson on Ebay and dressed him up in hi-vis in an attempt to stop speeding drivers – SWNS/Daniel Jae Webb A retired army major has created a lifelike police mannequin with a fake speed gun to stop roadhogs plaguing a Wiltshire village. John Winskill, 53, bought the 6ft 6in mannequin named Wilson on Ebay and dressed him up in hi-vis in an attempt to stop speeding drivers in the village of Rushall.
The strategic defence consultant took action after he stopped walking two of his children to school over safety fears. Wilson is covered in a rubber human face mask and glasses, and is so realistic people have stopped to ask him directions. Explaining why he took the unusual step, he said: “We had to take our life in our hands every morning walking down that footpath – so now we don’t, we don’t walk anymore,” he said.
“The whole point of walking to school is that it’s good for your health and good to get fresh air, but it’s just too damn dangerous.”
Wiltshire Police has said Wilson isn’t impersonating a police officer and doesn’t appear to be committing any offences – SWNS/Daniel Jae Webb Mr Winskill claims his creation is working and people travelling through the 30mph zone in Rushall, Wiltshire, have begun to slow down. Wiltshire Police has said Wilson isn’t impersonating a police officer and doesn’t appear to be committing any offences.
Mr Winskill, who served in the army for 15 years and was deployed in Bosnia in 1994, sourced the mannequin from a tailor’s shop in Hertfordshire. He dressed it up in a high-visibility jacket, a white motorcycle helmet, his wife Lisa’s old motorcycle leathers and his old regimental mess boots. The dummy was then hung on a telegraph pole on private land at the roadside in a bid to deter speedy motorists and prevent a tragedy.
The decision was also inspired by a traffic incident that he experienced after he was involved in a head-on collision while driving a Land Rover support vehicle at the Dakar Rally in Peru. He and his passengers survived, but the driver and a passenger from the taxi – who were not wearing seatbelts – died of catastrophic injuries. He said: “I don’t think that will ever leave me, frankly.
It finished me off for the best part of three-and-a-half years. Story continues “The death of children or the injury of children is probably the most traumatic thing that anybody, certainly a parent, could imagine and it’s just so unnecessary.
“I know people are busy, people have got to get places, but if you’re five minutes later than you were going to be, is it actually going to make a difference? No. “So that’s why I’ve done it; it’s very much a deterrent.”
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