4:37pm Tuesday 7th September 2010
By Staff reporter
Assault victim Pamela Somerville who was left with a huge cut over her eye after being hurled headfirst into a cell by Sgt Mark Andrews, criticised his jail sentence.
"What I found the most distressing was when I heard he was sentenced to six months in jail and he could be out in three months," she told Sky News.
"I don't know how sentencing works but I get the feeling that if he had been a member of the public that had assaulted me in that way, I think he would have got a greater sentence."
Ms Somerville, of North Colerne, described Andrews as "extremely aggressive" and said he had repeatedly told her to "shut up".
"All he seemed to say was 'shut up, shut up, shut up', with other adjectives in front of shut up," she said.
"I was terrified on the way to the police station and when I got into the custody suite, I thought it would be sorted out."
She added: "I thought they must have mistaken me for somebody who had done some terrible crime. Whatever crime you have done or haven't done, is this what happens in police cells?"
She said the incident was like an "horrific nightmare".
"I thought perhaps they would never let me out," she said. "I couldn't understand why they would treat anybody in that way. It was like a horrific nightmare."
But she said she wanted to move on from the incident.
She said: "I want it all over, I want to forget it."
Asked if she had a message for Sgt Andrews, she said: "I would like him to say he is sorry."
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/trade_directory/