London youth Shayhon Francis has been jailed for headbutting a 50-year-old police officer, biting off part of his ear, and stamping on his face.
The 23-year-old from Denmark Hill, Camberwell, had been stopped by PC Andrew Burton on the Roupell Park Estate in Tulse Hill, Brixton, following complaints of drug-dealing, the Evening Standard reports.
“Within seconds of being stopped, Francis headbutted the officer and, while the officer was on the floor, bit off part of his ear,” reads a Metropolitan Police statement.
“He also stamped on the officer’s head before running away from the scene.”
“There’s no respect for the uniform or for the age any more. It’s a ‘me, me, me’ culture,” commented PC Burton.
The piece of ear bitten off by Francis was recovered, but could not be re-attached. He said he had asked for the day off after the attack, but vowed: “I will continue to patrol in my community and I will continue to challenge [people] where grounds exist.”
Francis, described as a “talented amateur footballer” by the Standard, pleaded guilty to wounding but denied wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm — but was convicted of the more serious offence by a jury.
Sentencing judge Nigel Seed praised him as “clearly an intelligent person” and highlighted the fact he had achieved ten GCSEs at school, before handing him a seven-year sentence.
Detective Constable Caroline O’Shaughnessy, who lead the case for the police, made the surprising statement that she was “saddened” that Francis had “ended up with a lengthy prison sentence”, but that it was necessary to send “strong message”.
If Francis received a standard determinate sentence he will be paroled automatically halfway through his term, and possibly released even earlier under schemes such as home detention curfew.
The sentence was handed down shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump received criticism for highlighting the rise in violent crime — particularly knife crime — in London, made after a leading surgeon suggested his London hospital was beginning to resemble a war zone.
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