Man who hit police officer with pole in 'terrifying' attack jailed

22 April 2021, 11:40

A man who assaulted a police officer with a metal pole in a 'terrifying' attack has been jailed.

A court was told how police were called to reports of a disturbance at an address in Haylett Gardens, Kingston lat October.

On their way to the address, officers found a visibly distressed female in the street with significant injuries to her face and neck.

The woman alleged that she had been kept overnight, against her will, in the home of a man who had repeatedly assaulted her before she eventually managed to escape.

Police attended the address, registered to Darren Parker, where they found him in an aggressive state and armed with a metal pole.

Parker refused to relinquish the metal pole after numerous requests from police, at which point he was tasered. Despite this, he continued to brandish the metal pole towards police officers.

Parker then began striking himself over the head with the pole, and while attempting to detail Parker, PC Andy Cougar was struck over the head with it.

Parker was also verbally threatening towards officers and attempted to bite them before being detained, arrested and taken to a south London police station for questioning.

READ MORE: Man arrested after police officer injured in hit-and-run

READ MORE: Tributes paid to police dog killed while pursuing burglary suspects

At trial, Darren Parker was sentenced to four years and four months’ imprisonment at Kingston Crown Court on 7 April.

He received four years for ABH and four months for the assault on an emergency worker, to run consecutively.

He had already pleaded guilty to three counts of actual bodily harm (ABH) against a woman, and one count of assault on an emergency worker.

PC James Driver, investigating officer, said “Darren Parker showed extreme levels of violence over a sustained period of time leaving the victim with physical injuries and lasting mental trauma. He had no other option but to plead guilty for all matters as the evidence against him was insurmountable.

“Thanks to the victim and members of the public who came forward and provided evidence in the investigation.

“I hope that the sentence handed down brings the victim a measure of closure and that she is able to recover from the ordeal she suffered at the hands of Parker.”

PC Andy Cougar, the officer who was assaulted when trying to arrest Parker, said “I’ll leave it to the public to imagine how terrifying it is to have to arrest a man like Parker who had a long history of violence.

“He was armed with a metal pole, high on class A drugs and two Taser activations had no effect on him.

“While arresting him, he continued to fight for several minutes, leaving me physically exhausted. I took punches to my face and head from Parker who was out of control. It was one of those incidents you never forget.”