The Policeman: 'Racism' probe into officer who assaulted woman
By Jason Bennetto, Crime Correspondent
Published: 09 March 2007
An investigation into alleged police brutality, in which an officer punched a young black woman, is to examine whether the incident was racially motivated.

PC Anthony Mulhall said he used "brute force" to strike 19-year-old Toni Comer in the arm so she could be handcuffed during her arrest outside a nightclub in Sheffield last July. The fracas was captured on a surveillance camera and showed Ms Comer, now 20, being held down by two officers while PC Mulhall hit her five times.

An investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the incident will examine whether the officer used excessive force and whether the incident was racially motivated. It said in a statement: "The terms of reference will include consideration of specific and wider racial issues." A spokesman stressed the race element of the inquiry was only into the specific incident.

The constable, who admitted this week that he punched the woman "as hard as I was physically able", has been moved to a job away from the public.

South Yorkshire Police defended its officer and said he was using a method to control violent suspects, adding that the force was "outraged" at the suggestion the incident might have been racially motivated.

Ms Comer, who has a two-year-old son,is attempting to sue the force. She admits she was drunk on the night of her arrest and vandalised a car after being thrown out of a nightclub.



I can't help but look at this case and *shrug* She resisted arrest, swore and fought with the officers,what did she expect??

Yeah ..but you know what Roz? ..in all probability its' 60/40 in favor of people, who will think or be of an opinion, that it's the drunk black woman who was so intoxicated (white man's fault), thats she's somehow not as responsible for her vandaistic actions and that resisting police detainment, was lets say, 'out of character for her'

As for racially motivated? ....pfft! ..I'd be asking Toni Comer: 'if you're black or think you are being prejudiced because of your colour or ethinicity then take a look around yourself, do you see everyone or even the majority of those around you, of differing skin colored folk, all behaving the same way and being arrested as did you?'

That's my point exactly Rem, you know what bother's me, last weekend the girls and I took a wander round town on Saturday morning, while out we saw a guy that had quite obviously been fighting the night before, his face was black and blue, and he was pushing a wee kid around in her stroller, If you could have seen the look on my kids faces when they saw the state of him, the were afraid. What MOTHER wants to go home to their two year old son black and blue like this?? Sure we all like to have a wee drink from time to time, but excessive drinking that results in this kind of activity with resisting arrest etc, should be highlighted to Social Services, I tell ya, there would be a lot less fighting if family profiles were done on each family every time an arrest was made for excessive drinking related incidents, people may think twice.

I hear ya..and reckon you're right about families affected by alchohol ...it's obvious that whats destroys families the most is boozing binge drinking, gambling and extra marital affairs...same old three, profanity, creed and fornication...three evil nets in which to insnare.. ...the three worst behaviours.

Booze distorts reality and dulls the senses..people become insensitive to others around them..tolerance goes out the door..the numbing effect creeps in ..it just takes a thought, a word or two said in disrespect or even a bad joke going all wrong and that sets off a chain reaction of violence.

Booze is one of the worst things they ever legalized.

You said a mouth full there Charlie.

As for the story...

It bothers me that "racially motivated" is even being considered here. The point is a woman resisted arrest and the police had to use force. That's the question at hand; whether she's black, white, purple, green, or polk-a-dotted shouldn't even matter. People complain too damn much. They should try putting themselves into the shoes of a police officer just once, and all these claims of "excessie force" and "hate crime", etc. would go away. These men and women put their lives, literally, on the line every damn day. And to top it off, there is no gratitude whatsoever for the job they do. It's pitiful.

YOU RESIST YOU GONNA PAY A COP HAS THE RIGHT TO DEFEND HIM SELF NO MATTER WHAT

Absolutely agree with ya there Robin...antiauthoritarians LIE! ..yup! thats right!!...and I watch C.O.P.S. every Monday night without fail and always note how respectful and polite those cops are, even in the most adverse of situations, whilst their subject of interest lies through his/her teeth, complain and argue with them. Tell ya what ...if you or I got asked to lay face down and put our hands behind our backs to be detained for the safety of both the officers and oneself we would do just that ...no questions asked.

Damn right I would do just that, because I believe in justice and I believe in respecting the rights of others, including those of our law enforcement officers.

and to think people would have us believe that racially discriminating motivation is involved if they're black...I mean I'm white, so if a black police officer was detaining me and I resisted and he had to physically restrain me with force then I should complain it was a racially motived attack on me?

Of course, then, if you did that, the NAACP, the ACLU, and all those other idiot unions would claim you initiated the friggin attack just so you could claim that and discriminate against them. Reverse racism is the name of the game, and it's rampant in today's society.