A Toronto police officer will learn in July whether he goes to jail for punching and kicking a “mouthy” handcuffed prisoner two years ago.

Const. Matthew Glen should be jailed four to five months, followed by probation, prosecutor Andrew Cappell said Thursday.

“This is an egregious breach of the public trust,” he told Provincial Court Justice Rebecca Rutherford, who will sentence Glen July 8.

Although the young drunk-driving suspect Glen assaulted was “admittedly mouthy,” that’s no excuse, the prosecutor said.

Defence lawyer David Butt, however, explained that his client, whose record is otherwise unblemished, was under domestic stress and was provoked by the prisoner’s extreme verbal abuse. “It helps us to understand, not justify … what obviously was an overreaction.”

Butt called for a suspended sentence and probation.

If Glen, 34, gets any jail time, even house arrest, he will almost certainly be fired, court heard.

Glen, whose offence was reported by a fellow officer, pleaded guilty late last year to one count of assault causing bodily harm.

According to agreed facts, David Atkinson, in his early 20s, rolled his car on the Don Valley Parkway near Eglinton Ave. on July 22, 2011, at about 3:30 a.m.

Const. Thomas Reimer arrested him for impaired driving and took him to 41 Division police station in Scarborough.

The handcuffed prisoner became belligerent, though not violent, berating Reimer and other officers. He used foul language to insult Glen and threatened to kick him in the teeth.

Glen later approached Atkinson and said he should not act like a tough guy. He pushed him face-first into a wall and punched him three times in the face. Atkinson, then seated, leaned forward and spat blood.

Reimer yelled at Glen to leave the room.

Glen kicked the prisoner in the face and left.

“PC Reimer was shocked and upset by what had occurred,” according to the facts. He confronted Glen, reported him to two sergeants and said he wanted an investigation.

Atkinson’s injuries included two chipped front teeth, a swollen eye, cheek abrasions, a large forehead contusion, a sore jaw and cuts in his mouth.

Forensic psychiatrist Scott Woodside testified that Glen has an approximately 24 per cent risk of violently reoffending in the next 10 years.

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Cappell told the judge that is unacceptably high for a police officer.

Glen has offered to pay for Atkinson’s dental work and, in a letter of apology, said he was “deeply remorseful and saddened by my actions towards you.”