'Cell Attack' Sgt Wins Back Job
Appeal being considered after Police Appeals Tribunal orders Wiltshire officer reinstated to his former rank.
Courtesy of - Ananova
A police officer sacked after being accused of throwing a woman head-first onto the concrete floor of a cell has won back his job.
Mark Andrews was dismissed after being caught on CCTV dragging Pamela Somerville, 60, along the floor of a Wiltshire police station before shoving her into a cell.
Ms Somerville needed stitches to a gash above her eye following the incident in July 2008.
After losing his job in January, the former soldier appealed to the independent Police Appeals Tribunal, which overturned the decision and ordered that he be reinstated at his former rank of sergeant immediately.
Wiltshire Police and the Wiltshire Police Authority said they were "surprised and disappointed" by the decision and were considering an appeal.
Mr Andrews was jailed for six months in September over the incident, which was reported by another police officer.
But Mr Andrews later appealed and his conviction for assault causing actual bodily harm was quashed by a judge.
Mr Justice Bean said he was satisfied Mr Andrews did not intend to throw Ms Somerville into the cell, and that injuries she suffered were probably caused by her falling to the floor after letting go of the door frame.
She had been detained for failing to provide a sample for a breath test after being found asleep in her car, but denied any wrongdoing and the charges were later dropped.
Mr Andrews, a married father-of-two, told the appeal hearing that she had been unpredictable and abusive to him and his colleagues.
He told the court: "I don't think I did anything wrong.
"She had been holding on to the cell door frame when she suddenly let go. It was like pulling a cork out of a bottle."
A Wiltshire Police spokesman said Mr Andrews had not yet been reinstated and that legal advice will be taken with a view to challenging the ruling.
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