Leicestershire PC's nose left 'hanging off' after teen attack

PC Maddie Hayes needed 17 stitches to her nose after being punched by the teenager

A police constable whose nose was left "hanging off" after being punched while on duty has said the attack has made her "more determined" to help people.

PC Maddie Hayes sustained a broken nose and a deep cut in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire.

Police said it happened when she went to handcuff a teenager who had been detained by other officers.

PC Hayes underwent surgery and had six internal stitches and 11 external stitches to her nose.

The 24-year-old, of Leicestershire Police, was assisting with the search of the 16-year-old boy on 12 September after he had been detained by other officers.

The force said the boy was being held in Burton Road due to concerns raised around his behaviour.

PC Hayes said she placed a handcuff around one of the boy's wrists, but he then used his free hand to punch her.

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PC Hayes said she felt "unbelievable pain".

She said: "It just hurt so much to the point where I couldn't even stand.

"When officers took over I just dropped to the floor where I was stood, which was half in the road."

PC Hayes said she joined Leicestershire Police because she wanted to help people

She said there was blood coming out of her nose and mouth, and her vision was blurred.

She was taken to hospital where she saw her injuries in a mirror for the first time.

PC Hayes said: "At this point I hadn't had any stitches.

"I had steri-strips that were holding my nose on to my face because the way I'd been punched, my nose was hanging off.

"I just cried... I couldn't believe that somebody would choose to do something like that to me."

The teenager who punched PC Hayes is due to be sentenced next month

Leicestershire Police said PC Hayes was forced to take sick leave from work for three months and is awaiting further surgery as the injuries have left her struggling to breathe properly through her nose.

The officer now wants to raise awareness of assaults on emergency workers.

"When I put my uniform on I'm still me, I'm still Maddie, I've still got my friends at home, I've still got my family," she said.

"Just because I'm wearing a uniform, it doesn't make it acceptable to hurt me."

She added: "It just makes me more determined to put things right and help people because I didn't join the police to get assaulted. I joined to help people."

The boy, from Swadlincote, Derbyshire - who cannot be named for legal reasons - admitted wounding a police constable at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Monday.

He is due to be sentenced on 11 January.