Jay Curnock, 26, and Georgie Cox, 20, were both jailed at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court this week.
On 28th January, at approximately 8pm, Pc Paul Evans and a colleague attended Brynmenin House following reports that people were fighting outside the premises. When he arrived, he was told by the centre manager that Jay Curnock was inside the premises despite not being allowed in.
Curnock was Georgie Cox’s room when PC Evans found him. He was irate, and despite PC Evans’ attempts to calm him down before putting him into handcuffs, Curnock flew into a rage. What followed was a sustained and terrifying ordeal for the officer, who was punched, kicked, bitten and put in a headlock which left him gasping for breath. A final kick to his head when he was on the floor rendered him unconscious.
The court heard how the defendants were encouraging one another, and how Pc Evans was tried to administer PAVA spray into Curnock’s face but inadvertently sprayed his colleague.
Despite being incapacitated, his colleague managed to activate the emergency button which called for backup.
Assistance arrived in minutes and Jay Curnock was arrested along with Georgie Cox who had joined in the attack.
Curnock pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was jailed for 18 months, and Cox admitted assaulting a police officer and breaching a community order which related to a previous affray, and was jailed for 7 months.
Superintendent Attwell, said: “The job of a response police officer is unique. Every time an officer responds to a 999 call they are prepared and ready to put themselves in harm’s way in order to protect others, and they do this every day. They are ordinary people doing an extraordinary job and any violence inflicted upon officers will not be tolerated. Jail for these two individuals is justice served.”
