daily mirror-drunken off duty police officer 25 who attacked woman walking home spared jail

[Budsey]

this man attacked a woman used a training exercise to get her into a headlock and dragging her across the floor ....thank fully she managed to get away he also called her -a fucking slag -,
however he hasn't been sacked he has been put on a 14 weeks curfew 7am to 7pm
defence saying he cant do community service due to the criminals he would come into contact with therefore couldn't do his job !
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!- WTF !
this cannot continue surely ??? HE SHOULD BE SACKED !!! AND THE POLICE TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE AS TO WHO THEY HAVE IN THE FORCE ??!!!!!

[Goldylion]

I just logged on to post this exact story.
Absolutely disgusting, I really have no words.
He should have been handed a prison sentence.

news.sky.com/story/male-police-officer-who-drunkenly-attacked-woman-on-her-way-home-avoids-jail-12250925

[ThePawtriarchy]

WTF?????

[WisestIsShe]

This should be totally outrageous.

[Goldylion]

I wonder how quick West Midlands Police would have responded if the woman’s husband/partner/son sought out this man & did the same thing 🤔

I’m not saying they should, an eye for an eye is never right. But fuck me this is a joke. I feel like emailing the police & crime commissioner.

[SquishySquirmy]

Hopefully he will be sacked now that the criminal trial has concluded (not sure if it was possible to do a disciplinary before then).
Shocking story, and ridiculous that not only was he spared jail but the judge decided that "community service would he difficult..." awww, diddums. Difficult mixing with criminals? He is a criminal!

What that woman went through is awful. Her and her children continue to suffer the effects, made so much worse by finding out it was a police officer. No doubt he tried to downplay it as "drunken highjinks" but the description of the crime sounds more like a violent attempted rape, and must have felt that way to the woman. Terrifying.

[steelserenade]

This line from BBC report is troubling:

The Warwickshire force has admitted its "initial response to the report of the assault was not as swift as it should have been".

Not difficult to work out what their initial response was or why there was a "delay".

[Bargebill19]

One rule for them and one rule for us.

The police have long been a joke.

[RoseRedRoseBlue]

He will doubtless be sacked and the sentences is woeful, but not unexpected for a conviction of Assault by Beating.

[mars2]

Absolute disgrace

[steelserenade]

@RoseRedRoseBlue

He will doubtless be sacked and the sentences is woeful, but not unexpected for a conviction of Assault by Beating.

Hmm.

Police campaigned for harsher sentences for people who assault emergency service workers.

Police who commit assault should receive harsher sentences. It's an aggravating factor.

[RoseRedRoseBlue]

@steelserenade to be fair, people seldom go to prison for attacking emergency workers despite the legislation, which is about to get even tougher if the new Bill gets passed. Yes, this conviction was aggravated by the fact this guy was a Police Officer, but still, the majority of ABB convictions result in non-custodial outcomes.

[Budsey]

I have researched via google emails of chief of police and sourced priti patel's government email via google will be emailing them as soon as ....
this is not ok I do not trust the police to deal with this what a dreadful state of affairs we are in ..... to think that the justice system also played a role of allowing him to do curfew instead of community service !
if this was someone one other than a police officer for sure the sentence would not have been so lenient maybe ??.. the system is totally untrustworthy ,the fact that the police force admitted that they may have acted more swiftly than they did speaks volumes.....

[Goldylion]

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/violence-against-women-and-girls-vawg-call-for-evidence/violence-against-women-and-girls-vawg-strategy-2021-2024-call-for-evidence

The closing date says feb 2021 but this has recently been extended due to the awful case of Sarah Everard.

[RoseRedRoseBlue]

@Budsey this sentence does seem unduly lenient, but custody is generally unlikely for what is a presumably a first ABB conviction.

[prh47bridge]

One rule for them and one rule for us

No, it isn't.

He was convicted of common assault. I am unclear whether this was classed by the court as a category 1 or category 2 offence. It is certainly higher harm, so it can't be category 3. However, to be category 1 there must also be higher culpability. It isn't clear whether any of the factors needed for this to be classed as category 1 were present.

If it was category 2, the starting point for sentencing was a medium level community order with the maximum being a high level community order. If it was category 1, the starting point was a high level community order with the maximum being 6 months. He pleaded guilty, which automatically reduces the sentence by one third. Any custodial sentence would almost certainly have been suspended. The fact there is a curfew requirement indicates he got a high level community order, which is in line with the sentencing guidelines.

It would be different if he had been convicted of ABH, GBH or attempted rape. Perhaps he should have been convicted of one of these offences, but the prosecution chose to accept a plea of guilty to common assault. As the sentencing guidelines stand, this was not a serious enough offence to warrant a jail sentence.

The fact he is a police officer made no difference to sentencing. Perhaps it should. Perhaps the courts should hand down higher sentences for police officers convicted of offences. I have some sympathy for that idea. But this is absolutely not a case of "one rule for them and one rule for us". In reality, the complaint is that it is currently the same rule for everyone.

I hope the police sack him.

[Budsey]

I agree with what has been said re the guidelines

But we all know that he had an excellent defence team and advised him accordingly to plead guilty to reduce the sentence

He was given a home curfew instead of a community service!
He was treated differently due to him being a police officer !
he was still being protected !
He has been treated differently to other assailants...........!

I am assuming that the police officer will face disciplinary action though this hasn't been reported in the on line newspaper .it really is exposing the intransient way the police investigate their own ...The way it took so long for the investigation to progress as was reported ..
The fact the police officer used a training exercise to attempt to disable his victim.. if she never got away god knows what would have happened...and if the worst happened would he have got away with it ?
He chose a woman to attack and not a man
I see this as a hate crime the fact that he called her a F,,,,,, SLAG ...gives an insight to his mentality

Are the police force guilty of institutionalised misogyny ?
One wonders how many times this has happened with other cases and has been brushed under the carpet.
Has the women's mental state been taken into account it is a horrifying event to go through
And there are now proposals for undercover police to frequent night time pubs and clubs will we trust them or can they be trusted ?
Are we expecting too much from a police force who has the same education as every one else but who have the power to act out their behaviours .... ?
The ramifications are endless ....

[prh47bridge]

He was given a home curfew instead of a community service

A home curfew is part of a high level community sentence. It would normally be "as well as". Given that there is no community service requirement, I'm a little surprised there are no rehabilitative requirements (assuming the press reports are accurate).

Broadly agree with the rest of your post.

I am assuming that the police officer will face disciplinary action though this hasn't been reported in the on line newspaper

The Guardian say he has been suspended by the police and charged with gross misconduct. That should, in my view, end his career in the police (which, as he is a probationer, has barely got started).

Has the women's mental state been taken into account it is a horrifying event to go through

Yes. That is one of the reasons this is not a category 3 assault. The ongoing effect on the victim is also an aggravating factor for sentencing, i.e. it is a factor which could lead to a sentence above the starting point.

[RoseRedRoseBlue]

It’s possible he was assessed as not having any rehabilitative needs OR that he was straight sentenced without any Probation report being prepped. This sentence, if is has been reported accurately, is punitive only.