‘Something needs to change’: Police officer calls for action after brutal attack during arrest in Northamptonshire town

PC Mia Ball was attacked by a woman she arrested on May 19 in Daventry.

The 27-year-old fears she will have permanent damage after the attacker stuck her finger nails into Mia’s cheek, leaving her with deep cuts and scratches. She was also punched.

Mia said: “She had wrapped her fingers and fingernails into my cheek and scrunched it up.

“She just wouldn’t let go and left me with quite nasty cuts and scabs.

“The moment I saw my face, all I thought was this is going to scar.”

For Mia, the attack has not just left physical wounds, but mental too, after the officer spent much of her 20s overcoming severe acne on her face.

“I spent six or seven years battling acne and scarring. I've got to a point where I'm left with minimal scarring and also minimal spots,” Mia added.

“Now, this woman could have changed my face in 30 seconds of digging her fingernails in and not letting go. It’s worrying.

“I'm so grateful for having my hair in a bun as well. I know it's mandatory uniform, but if I hadn't she’d have ripped clumps out of my hair.”

Mia and her colleagues, PC Kimberley Streuli, PC Tom Roberts, and Special Constable Nicola Orrill had responded to calls of a neighbour dispute. Mia informed the woman that she was being arrested, but the attacker picked up a bike and threatened to throw it at the officers.

Mia sprayed the woman with pepper spray, forcing her to drop the bike, then the attacker dug her fingernails into Mia’s face and grabbed her hair bun. Kimberley was unable to prise her fingers off Mia’s face before Tom entered the garden and forced the attacker to lose her grip.

Mia, who has recently been voted in as a new Northamptonshire Police Federation rep, is now supporting The Police Federation of England and Wales’ calls for the toughest sentences for those who attack officers.

Mia said: “I went to see my grandparents, and my grandad is 91 and doesn't understand how somebody would attack police officers and hurt us.

“I’ve been a police officer for nearly three years, but I was a PCSO before that, and assaults on police are getting worse.

“Something needs to change. We need to send the message that attacks on officers won’t be tolerated.”

Northamptonshire Police Federation chair Sam Dobbs echoed the calls.

He said: “Our members are sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, and have families to go home to at the end of their shift. Families that worry tirelessly when their loved ones are on a shift, and won’t stop worrying until they see them walk through the door back home.

“Far too often we hear the words ‘it’s part of the job’, well, it is not part of the job. But sadly, these assaults are happening on a daily basis and inflict physical and psychological injury on officers.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it - nobody has the right to use officers as punch-bags. We must not normalise this,” Mr Dobbs added.