Officers injured in violent mob attack
- 00:00:55
- ITN
Officers injured in violent mob attack
A police officer who was attacked by a teenage mob says the group acted like animals.Two officers were set on by a group, some wearing school uniform, in Croydon, South London, after they asked a teenage girl to pick up a fast-food wrapper she had dropped.She picked it up but then pointedly threw it on the ground again as a large crowd gathered around her and the two policemen.A 15-year-old girl then jumped on the 34-year-old officer and repeatedly bit him on the shoulder and torso.The police constable, who is recovering from his bite injuries at home, said the incident quickly escalated out of control: "They swarmed at the start. They feel they can overcome you like a gang. It was a good 30-plus youths.""It is the behaviour. It is unbelievable. I find it amazing that someone could bite another human being like that," he said."They were acting like animals, but I hate using the term 'animals' because they would not do that. Animals have a reason for doing something."This is just nonsense violence. It is difficult to think that they could do something like this - and to a policeman."A colleague who raced to the officers aid was pulled to the ground and kicked by others as several older men and women joined the fracas in a shopping precinct.Detectives are studying CCTV footage of the attack in a bid to identify all of those involved.A 15-year-old girl was arrested at the scene on suspicion of assault. She has since been released on bail.The officer said that when the girl's parents arrived at the police station they complained that the start of her summer holiday had been disrupted.
ITN | July 18, 2008
