Policeman, 25, who attacked woman, 36, spared jail AND community service
The shocking moment a drunk off-duty policeman used his training to attack a woman while she walked home from night out – as he is SPARED jail and community service as his force say they ‘understand the strength of feeling’ after Sarah Everard’s death
- PC Oliver Banfield, 25, attacked mother-of-two Emma Homer, 25, at night
- Banfield admitted assault by beating but was spared jail and community service
- West Midlands Police confirmed the probationary officer had been suspended
- Banfield was sentenced to a 14-week curfew and ordered to pay his victim £500
- Labour MP Harriet Harman said sentence was ‘proof’ that system ‘fails women’
Shocking footage shows the moment an off-duty drunk policeman used his training to attack a woman walking home alone from a night out – but the officer has been spared jail and community service.
CCTV footage shared by Channel 4 News shows PC Oliver Banfield, 25, a probationary officer with West Midlands Police, grab mother-of-two Emma Homer, 36, as she was walking alone in Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, last July.
Banfield tried to tackle her to the ground and put her in a headlock before Miss Homer, 36, managed to escape as he yelled she was a ‘f****** slag’.
The police officer and his victim are not thought to have known each other.
West Midlands Police said they ‘understand the strength of feeling’ following the death of Sarah Everard.
Banfield appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court for sentencing today after he admitted assault by beating, but was slapped with a 14-week curfew, banning him from leaving his house between 7pm and 7am.
He was also ordered to pay a paltry £500 compensation to Miss Homer and court costs totalling £180.
Oliver Banfield grabbed mother-of-two Emma Homer while she was walking home in Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, last July. A court heard he tried to to tackle her to the ground and put her in a headlock before she managed to escape
In court, Banfield’s lawyer said he should not have to do community service because of his difficulty working with criminals.
Labour MP Harriet Harman said the sentence was ‘proof’ that the system ‘fails women and protects men’.
Ms Harman tweeted today: ‘Policeman attacks woman walking home alone after dark. Must have been terrifying for her but no prison sentence.
‘This is proof, if any needed, that system fails women and protects men.’
West Midlands Police said Banfield has been suspended from his job and is facing a disciplinary probe into gross misconduct.
Banfield was off-duty and drunk at the time, with CCTV capturing the attack.
Footage shared by Channel 4 News showed Banfield aggressively confront Emma Homer in the street while yelling at her
Footage showed Banfield trying to perform an ‘unlawful arrest’ by grabbing Miss Homer round the neck from behind, after appearing to kick her
Miss Homer says the attack has left her plagued by insomnia and said she now needs counselling to help her deal with the trauma of the night
Footage showed Banfield trying to perform an ‘unlawful arrest’ by grabbing Miss Homer round the neck from behind, after appearing to kick her.
He appears to grab her wrist, asking ‘why are you laughing?’
When Miss Homer tries to escape, he yells: ‘That’s disorder, you’ve pushed me in the face, that is an assault right there.’
Turning more aggressive, he shouts: ‘On the floor now,’ while grabbing her around the neck from behind.
Miss Homer said the attack devastated her and left her battling anxiety and panic attacks.
She is also plagued with insomnia and now needs counselling to help her deal with the trauma of the night.
Miss Homer said the attack devastated her and left her battling anxiety and panic attacks
Miss Homer said: ‘I often ask myself if the impact of the attack would have been so severe if my assailant was not a police officer.
‘During the assault as I struggled to get to safety I was sure this drunk man was fulfilling a violent cop movie fantasy.
‘To be verbally abused with misogynistic slang, grabbed by the neck and forced to the floor on a dark road by a drunk man, a foot taller than me, is terrifying.
‘But to then find out he was a police officer shook my belief system to its core.’
She added that her children have been left shattered by knowing what had happened to their mother.
She added: ‘Both are wary and unnecessarily anxious when they see a police car or an officer in uniform and will ask me, ‘Is that him mummy?’.
‘What if I hadn’t got away? What if he had attacked another woman drunk?
Judge Nick Watson said Ms Homer was a ‘vulnerable woman walking home alone at night’.
He said Banfield ‘demonstrated his hostility to the victim based on her sex’ by repeatedly calling her a ‘s**g’.
The judge is the same one who spared the lead singer of Kasabian jail after he carried out an alcohol-fuelled ‘sustained assault’ on his ex-fiancee.
Tom Meighan, 39, admitted to attacking Vikki Ager at their Leicester home, but was not imprisoned for the crime.
The sentence comes amid anger over the death of Sarah Everard, last week police clashed with women holding a vigil for the 33-year-old
Officers in Clapham Common were seen restraining women in Clapham Common during the vigil last Saturday
Serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, has been charged the murder and kidnap of Sarah Everard. Flowers surrounded a bandstand in Clapham Common, in memory of the 33-year-old
Deputy chief constable Vanessa Jardine, from West Midlands Police, said: ‘Oliver Banfield was removed from public-facing police duties after the assault and while the investigation by Warwickshire Police was being carried out.
‘To protect the criminal case we’ve not been able to carry out our own misconduct investigation until its conclusion.
‘Now sentencing has taken place, our investigation will be carried out and PC Banfield faces allegations of gross misconduct and is currently suspended.
‘We understand the strength of feeling surrounding the desperately sad death of Sarah Everard and concerns on the issue of women’s safety but it would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this stage.
‘Our role is to protect the public, who should be able to trust us. We therefore hold all our officers to the highest standards and we will take appropriate action against anyone whose actions fall below what is expected.’
Further Sarah Everard vigil is planned in Norfolk this weekend as police warn that gatherings will be in breach of Covid rules
Police have warned people gathering for a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard risk breaking Covid rules.
Marketing executive Ms Everard was alleged to have been abducted in Clapham, South London, on March 3 as she walked home and her body was found in woodland in Kent a week later.
The 33-year-old’s murder has ignited a fierce debate about the safety of women on Britain’s streets.
The Metropolitan Police has come under intense criticism after a vigil in Ms Everard’s memory on Clapham Common descended into violence amid accusations of heavy-handed policing to enforce Covid rules.
Despite bans on large gatherings, organisers have planned a second vigil in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, in a bid to ‘highlight concerns over women’s safety.’
Well-wishers leave floral tributes to Ms Everard in south London. The 33-year-old’s death has ignited a fierce debate about the safety of women on Britain’s streets
Police clash with mourners at a vigil in Clapham Common, south London, on Saturday after the event was officially cancelled
Organisers of the vigil say police have been ‘consulted and are aware’.
One organiser, known only as Rosie, said: ‘We’re all mindful of safety during the pandemic, and will be acting with the utmost respect for Covid guidelines, but Sarah’s murder has brought it home to many of us, that whatever we do, we’re not safe.’
A vigil for Ms Everard was held on March 13
Another woman, Cissy, added: ‘Women should be able to walk home without fear of attack, but for most women this isn’t the case.
‘This vigil is to give us all the opportunity to pay our respects to a young woman who was killed while walking home.’
They said supporters have been advised to wear masks and observe social distancing guidelines.
Last Saturday, hundreds of people gathered peacefully on Clapham Common to pay their respects to Miss Everard, who disappeared as she walked home through the area.
Organisers Reclaim These Streets had cancelled the event after Scotland Yard rejected their proposals for making it Covid secure, and a High Court judge refused to intervene in a legal battle launched by the organisers.
Mourners wearing facemasks went to the common throughout the day, including the Duchess of Cambridge who paid a private visit to the makeshift shrine.
But a vigil on Saturday night in Ms Everard’s memory descended into violence, culminating in police officers pinning protesters to the ground in images that appalled the nation.
Police try to break up vigil for Sarah Everard at the bandstand on Clapham Common, March 13
Another organiser of the Norfolk event, Jo, said: ‘There is a great strength and depth of feelings and it’s important that the women of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk are able to peacefully pay their respects and remember the lives of women who have been murdered while doing nothing more than walking home.’
A Norfolk Police spokesman said: ‘We understand the strength of feeling and people’s desire to come together to mourn the death of Sarah Everard and make a statement on the issues of women’s safety.
‘However, large gatherings are not currently permitted under the COVID-19 regulations to prevent the spread of the virus.
‘Many people have made sacrifices during lockdown and we must take a consistent approach to policing the regulations and cannot wave the regulations for any one type of gathering.
‘We will continue to follow the four Es…to engage, explain and encourage, using enforcement where there are breaches of the law.’
