A police sergeant jailed for hurling a woman headfirst into a cell leaving her in a pool of blood was previously investigated for using excessive force during an arrest, it emerged today.
Callous Mark Andrews, 37, was caught on CCTV dragging petit Pamela Somerville into a custody cell before roughly throwing her to the floor causing a huge cut above her eye.
He was jailed for six months for the assault on Ms Somerville and causing actual bodily harm and now faces the sack from the force.
Yesterday, civil servant Keith Turner said he warned Wiltshire police that Andrews was no more than a ”thug in uniform” FOUR YEARS ago.
Mr Turner, 52, was arrested but later cleared during a scuffle outside his local pub in Bath in July 2006, during which he was punched by Andrews.
He complained about the excessive use of force and Andrews later admitted he had hit Mr Turner ‘as hard as he could’ but was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
Father-of-four Mr Turner, from Warminster, Wilts., said: ”He is a thug in uniform.
”The force he used against me was unnecessary and the attack on the woman (Ms Somerville) was outrageous.
”I’m happy to speak to Pamela if she wanted to talk to someone who has been through the same thing.”
Andrews was jailed for six months after being captured on CCTV dragging petit Pamela Somerville into a custody cell before roughly throwing her to the floor in 2008.
The footage showed the burly former army sergeant throw her like a rag doll on the hard concrete floor before leaving her covered in blood from a gash above her left eye.
But two years earlier Andrews was investigated by Wiltshire police and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) for punching Mr Turner.
Mr Turner was arrested after he intervened in a brawl as he walked past his local pub the Bath Arms.
A police officer claimed he swore at him but a three-day trial later cleared him.
Mr Turner claims he was punched and kicked before police used pepper spray to subdue him.
He launched an official complaint against Andrews, who later admitted he had punched him in the chest as hard as he could.
Andrews was cleared of wrongdoing following an inquiry by the IPCC who said he had used ”reasonable force” in making the arrest.
Mr Turner added: ”The police arrived with in five minutes of the scuffle breaking out and and as Andrews approached he was immediately aggressive.
”He punched me in the middle of the chest and threw another punch at my head, which missed.
”I pushed him away and then they all piled in. They got me on the floor and then Andrews punched me again. My head was pushed against the concrete.
”They were kicking me and using pepper spray.”
Mr Turner was taken to hospital where it emerged he had suffered a chipped tooth and swelling left cheek with cuts to his wrist and right arm and left thigh.
His official complaint against Andrews and five other officers was later dismissed by Wiltshire Police.
Their report concluded: ”Andrews punched him to his left jaw and cheek area.
”He said he punched Turner as hard as he could to prevent him biting him and that Turner was showing aggravated resistance.”
A report by the IPCC which concluded in July 2008 said: ”The use of a punch can be an acceptable use of force, so long as it can be adequately justified by the officer and it is proportionate to the level of threat which the officer faced.
”We do not consider that there is sufficient evidence to show PS Andrews’ use of punch was unreasonable or that it constituted an excessive use of force.”
A spokesman for Wiltshire police said: ”We investigated the allegations with the supervision of the IPCC and they were found to be unsubstantiated.
”Additionally, a civil claim was not proceeded with.”
