Downton man jailed for violently assaulting two officers and police dog
The incident happened in May this year
Last updated 17th Dec 2020
Mark Day, of Moot Close in Downton, has been jailed for six years and six months and fined £170 after violently assaulting two police officers and police dog, Elvis.
On May 1st 2020 Wiltshire Police received a report that a black Land Rover Discovery was stolen from a farm in Redlynch.
The vehicle was then spotted on the A31 the next day by officers, who then pursued it, with the help of a police helicopter.
It failed to stop for police, driving at high speeds through a number of local villages including Hale, Woodfalls, Lover, Landford and Whiteparish.
At times, it was doing 100mph in a 30mph zone.
When driving through the New Forest, police noticed that the Land Rover had struck a pony, which was momentarily knocked to the ground.
52 minutes later the car stopped on Stonehenge Road in Amesbury and a male and female fled on foot.
Dog Handler Darren Willis arrived with PD Elvis on scene and commanded the dog to detain Day after they located him.
Day then used a catapult to fire large metal nuts and stones at officers causing one of them a head injury and PC Willis an injury to his side.
PD Elvis continued trying to stop Day but was kicked several times before he too had objects fired at him from such close proximity.
Elvis eventually detained Day and he was arrested.
Dog handler PC Willis said:
"The fact that PD Elvis had been struck by items which had the potential to cause him significant harm caused me great concern and distress - fortunately, he was not severely injured nor required veterinary attention. This incident left me feeling upset and angry and questioning how someone could be so cruel and evil towards an animal.
The items I was struck with could have hit me anywhere on my head causing injuries that would have put me in hospital and potentially finished my career as a police officer which would have been devastating. If PD Elvis had been struck in the head, it doesn't even bare thinking about what could have happened to him - he is my partner in both work and at home and I wouldn't be able to do the job without him."
At a hearing in October, 33 year old Day pleaded guilty to:
- Aggravated taking a vehicle without consent
- Attempted GBH Section 18 on a police officer
- ABH on a police officer
The jail sentence also covers one charge of threatening another with an offensive weapon and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker, relating to separate incident in Salisbury in April 2019 when Day, wearing a knuckle duster, assaulted two police officers.
He was sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court yesterday (December 16th) where the judge also took into consideration the assault on Elvis.
In a victim impact statement, the second officer that was assaulted said he was lucky he wasn't struck in the eye:
"The pain to my head was unbearable and I was unable to remain on duty. When I arrived home I was greeted by my six year old son who began to cry asking me what had happened. He was inconsolable. The incident also affected my wife who was upset and worried for me. I required the following three days off to recuperate."
Meanwhile, Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said:
"This incident left two of our officers with serious injuries. I have viewed the footage from the helicopter myself and can see that Day was intent on causing injury to these officers and PD Elvis, and whilst in the process of detaining the defendant, a third officer was bitten by the dog as an indirect consequence of Day's actions. The risk of serious injury by all involved was significant. This was a deliberate act which gave no forethought to the potential for serious injury to those officers, or for the wider implications that this may have on my resourcing to keep our communities safe, nor was there any consideration given to the impact this behaviour would likely have on families and colleagues of those involved.
This case is a prime example of the dangers many of our officers and police dogs face on a daily basis - they put themselves in harm's way to protect our communities and I am extremely proud of the dedication they show to the force. Assaults like this should never be seen as part of their job and I will personally do all that I can to not only support officers who are assaulted while on duty, but also support them through the court process so that justice can be served.
It is clear from the statements provided to the courts by the officers involved, that the impact reaches further afield than just themselves - these officers are human beings like you and I and many of them return home to families including young children who are often understandably extremely distressed by the news that their parent or loved one has been injured in the course of their duty."