Man jailed after officer broke hand during arrest

Christopher Athanasiou, 36, injured an officer who now has a permanent scar on her hand

A man has been jailed for assaulting two police officers, one of whom broke their hand during the incident.

Prosecutors said the officer was injured while attempting to arrest Christopher Athanasiou after he attacked a member of the public in April in Bradford.

Bradford Crown Court heard that after Athanasiou, 36, tried to punch one of the officers during a violent struggle the second officer fell to the floor, injuring her hand.

Passing sentence on Athanasiou, of no fixed abode, Judge Ahmed Nadim said he had shown an "anti-authority, in particular an anti-police, attitude", ordering him to serve two years and six month in jail.

The judge said the sentence imposed on Athanasiou, who was the subject of two suspended sentences at the time of the attack, showed the courts would act to protect the police against such "mindless" behaviour.

"Such assaults on the police are never an occupational hazard," he said.

"These incidents have a wider ripple effect.

"They damage overall police morale and create significant challenges for victims returning to frontline duties."

The court heard the injured officer had needed to take six weeks off work as a result and had been left with a permanent scar on her hand.

The judge said the injury also carried emotional weight as the officer was conscious it would be visible on her upcoming wedding photographs.

Athanasiou, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to the female officer and common assault of an emergency worker in respect of her colleague.

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