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Violent Arrest In U.K (Video)
Four men, five punches and a boot: A 19-year-old woman is arrested
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THIS is the South Yorkshire Police officer at the centre of a furious row sparked by the violent arrest of a young Sheffield mum outside a city centre nightclub.
PC Anthony Mulhall, who is thought to have been a firearms officer at the time of the incident, was yesterday removed from public duties for his own protection after CCTV footage showing him apparently punching 20-year-old Toni Comer eight times was broadcast around the world.
The officer has admitted hitting her "as hard as I am physically able" but said he was acting in self-defence to subdue and handcuff Miss Comer after extreme provocation.
Today Miss Comer, aged 20, of Errington Avenue, Arbourthorne, called for PC Mulhall to be sacked.
The mum-of-one, a former pupil of Arbourthorne Junior and Newfield Schools in Norton Lees, said: "I want to see him sacked. If he is capable of doing this to someone like me he could do it to anyone."
South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Meredydd Hughes said the decision to withdraw PC Mulhall from certain duties was made to protect the officer and restore public confidence. The officer has not been suspended.
Mr Hughes said he was "horrified" when he first saw the dramatic footage on late-night television, having only been notified a few hours earlier.
But yesterday solicitor Peter Mahy, who is handling Miss Comer's civil case against the force, said his firm had contacted South Yorkshire Police in October 2006 - three months after the incident happened in July - asking them to refer the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
He said: "In October last year, we asked South Yorkshire Police to refer the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate the matter themselves, but have received no response. This incident is obviously a matter of public concern."
The IPCC has confirmed it will be launching an investigation. Commissioner for Yorkshire and Humberside Nicholas Long said: "I have seen the CCTV footage and decided it is in the public interest for a wholly independent investigation to be conducted.
"This investigation will look into the circumstances of the incident to determine whether the force used by the officer when making the arrest was justified and proportionate."
Miss Comer was punched eight times when police arrived to arrest her after she damaged two vehicles in the car park of The Limit nightclub.
She was thrown out of a Niche-themed club night at the Eyre Street venue after a row with her boyfriend.
Miss Comer claims she suffered an epileptic fit and doesn't remember the assault, but decided to take legal action when she saw the video footage.
She said: "I can't remember the attack, I can't even remember being thrown out of the club. I only knew something was wrong when I woke up the next morning covered in bruises.
Miss Comer admitted criminal damage at Sheffield Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.
Today an eyewitness speaking exclusively to The Star claimed the police officers hadn't realised their suspect was a woman until she lay restrained on the floor.
The witness said: "They thought it was a young black guy that had run up the steps of the club. She had a tracksuit on and a hood up and they thought she was a man. They didn't realise it was a woman.
"Then when she was lying on the floor one of them swore and said, 'It's a woman'."
Police refused to comment on specific claims but a spokesman said: "It's a matter of record that the officer involved has fully accepted striking the person in the course of arresting them. The officer maintains he did so because the offender was assaulting him."
He added: "Public confidence in the police is of the highest importance and the force will give their fullest co-operation during the enquiry."
The spokesman also said the force had received dozens of calls from members of the public pledging support for the force and the officer involved. -
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