Essex cop punched and nearly strangled after responding to silent 999 call
A brave Essex Police officer faced a terrifying attack after visiting a woman who reported domestic abuse via a silent 999 call.
Suspect lashes out after being asked to wait
PC Fradgley arrived at the victim’s home and gave the suspect time to get dressed. But the man was far from happy being watched.
As soon as he was ready, he lunged at PC Fradgley. The officer was punched and pinned down by the man’s imposing height and build.
Eye gouge and strangling attempt in horror assault
The attacker tried to strangle the officer and shoved his thumb into PC Fradgley’s eye — a brutal military self-defence move.
“It is something you would only do if you thought you were going to die,” said PC Fradgley. “I thought: ‘is he trying to kill me?’ It was pretty scary stuff.”
Officer escapes with help, attacker gets suspended sentence
PC Fradgley eventually broke free and, with a colleague’s backup, cuffed the suspect. The man later pleaded guilty and was handed a suspended sentence.
“Thankfully my eye was okay but I had to take time off to recover,” said the officer. “Some people think they can be as abusive as they like to police officers with no real consequences from the courts.”
