SWNS Lori Clayton was spared jail after she assaulted a police officer

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Lori Clayton, 23, had downed two bottles of wine before she ran “as fast as her stilettos would allow” to launch the savage attack on Sean Clapham as he tried to break up a brawl outside a bar. Pc Clapham described the assault, which left him with permanent scarring, as “the worst he has suffered in his 24 years” on the force. Despite pleading guilty to the attack, Clayton, from Billingham, Teeside, was allowed to walk free because she is now pregnant.

The slap-on-the-wrist punishment prompted stinging criticism from rank and file officers. Andrea Breeze of Cleveland Police Federation said: “This is a very disappointing sentence for an attack on a police officer who was merely doing his job. “We should not be subject to such physical unprovoked attacks. “The judicial system needs to start supporting police officers in the execution of their duty and recognising the risks they are subject to everyday by imposing custodial sentences.”

SWNS Clayton was spared jail because she is pregnant

She warned the sentence would not serve as a deterrent to help prevent unprovoked assaults on police officers. She added: “Like any other victim of an assault, the impact should be taken seriously when determination of sentence is being made. “Every year thousands of police officers are assaulted and yet we continue to be criticised when we use personal protective equipment to protect ourselves, and the public.” Earlier, Teeside Crown Court heard how Clayton hit Pc Clapham with the bottle as he tried to break up a fight outside Chambers Bar in the centre of Middlesbrough in February.

SWNS Clayton hit the officer with a bottle

She claimed not to have realised he was policeman because he was in plain clothes despite the fact he was holding a baton and shouting “I’m a police officer”. Richard Herrmann, prosecuting, told how Clayton ran at Pc Clapham “as fast as her footwear would allow”. He said: “He said he was hit with such a significant blow that he thought he had been struck with a metal bar.” The officer has been left with a one and a half inch scar to the back of his head and suffered scarring to his ear which remains painful and has caused sleeping problems.

SWNS Clayton had drank two bottles of wine