A young man assaulted a police constable and left him unconscious on a North London street, leaving him unable to care for his disabled partner for weeks, a court heard this week.
Appearing at Highbury Magistrates Court, Motty Nezmi, 24, of Craven Park Road was sentenced for two counts of assault of an emergency worker, which he had pleaded guilty to.
Crown Prosecutor William Burrell told the court: “On 7 January after a report of an unrelated incident, PC Jefferson started walking towards the man who told him to ‘f*** off,’ before continuing to try and walk down the road at which point PC Jefferson reached out to arrest him. The defendant then swung at PC Jefferson and punched him three times in the head.”
In a statement by PC McClernon, a colleague of PC Jefferson, the court heard how: “I feared for Jefferson’s life”.
PC Jefferson was left with a debilitating concussion. He said: “I was unable to be left alone due to the cognitive issues I was having. I would be unstable on my feet or forgetful of where I was. I would get into dangerous situations around the house, leaving the gas ring when I left the room or reaching into the oven without gloves.”
He added that the concussion meant he struggled to care for his disabled wife: “I was unable to provide safe and effective care for her which she requires to help her cook and shower.”
Defence barrister Daniel Cavaglieri said: “It has weighed heavily on Mr Nezmi. He has a long-term diagnosis since he was a teenager of ADHD and autism and he has a history with cannabis, a drug with known links to psychosis. He has since referred himself to non-opiate drug support services where he regularly attends and has tested negative for the last six weeks.”
Sentencing Mr Nezmi, Magistrates Dorothy McKee and Adam Coffman said: “You seem genuinely remorseful. You have health issues and you have self-referred to drug services and are working hard at that.”
Mr Nezmi will serve 80 hours of community service within a year and was ordered to pay the police constables £550 in compensation.
Phin Hubbard is a City St Georges student on the Newspaper Journalism MA. He works casual shifts at the Sunday Times.
Martha is a MA Newspaper Journalism student with a desire to craft well-reported, insightful and original stories on cultural, environmental and local issues.