Police punch woman during arrest

Yahoo UK
Mar. 09, 2007

Video HereCCTV footage has emerged showing a young black woman, who may have been having an epileptic fit, being punched five times by a police officer.

Toni Comer, 20, was arrested outside a Sheffield nightclub for vandalising a car when she was thrown out.

The officer involved, PC Anthony Mulhall, of South Yorkshire Police, has been removed from frontline duties after it emerged he hit Ms Comer "as hard as I am physically able" in order to subdue her so she could be handcuffed.

She was later dragged away with her trousers around her ankles. Ms Comer, who admits being drunk at the time of the arrest, is epileptic and believes her movements may have been caused by a fit.

The incident was captured on CCTV and Ms Comer is now launching legal action against the South Yorkshire force.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has also launched an investigation into the events.

Speaking at her parents' house in Erskine Crescent, Arbourthorne, Sheffield, Ms Comer said she was shocked by the footage.

"I was very shocked and very upset that they would do this to somebody. I didn't think it was possible," she said.

"I thought police arrested people for doing things like that, not that they did it themselves. I would like to see some kind of justice so this never happens to anybody else in the future."

She added: "I'd like to see an apology and for the police to be aware these types of illnesses are around, because it can be mistaken for being drunk."