A cowardly thug who took a flying kick at a police officer during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020 has been handed a suspended sentence following a Met investigation.
Jonathan Daley, of Bradwell Avenue, Dagenham, RM10, appeared at the London Inner Crown Court on Thursday, 29 July, after admitting a charge of violent disorder during an earlier hearing. A warrant had been issued against him by Westminster Magistrates’ in January when he failed to attend court.
On 3 June last year, the 27-year-old had joined a demonstration on Whitehall, near Derby Gate.
A group of approximately 250 protesters had become hostile to a TV crew, and police officers moved in to help them.
Some of those protesting began throwing items at police officers. Daley ran up behind one officer who had their back turned and attempted to kick him, narrowly missing.
CCTV footage then captures Daley running ahead of police officers and hiding behind railings, looking to ambush them.
As one officer passes, Daley lunges out and takes a flying kick that hits his upper thigh.
As the officer fell to the ground, Daley runs off and is seen on social media footage to cheer and celebrate with the crowd.
At court, he was handed a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years. He was ordered to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work, attend a probation and credited programme for 30 days.
He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £200.
Detective Constable Steve Nicholls from the Met’s Public Order Crime Team, said:
“It is sickening to see someone treat a police officer with such thuggish behaviour.
“Despite being outnumbered, those officers were trying to help a TV film crew who were being subjected to scenes of violence and hostility. It is deeply worrying to see a crowd of people become so aggressive to police officers.
“Thanks to the excellent CCTV footage on Whitehall, which captured the assault in its entirety, we were able to identify Daley swiftly and arrest him later that day in Parliament Square.
“Daley has been spared jail on this occasion, but if he offends again he can be sure to spend many nights behind bars.”
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Prison should be an automatic sentence for attacks on emergency workers, no ifs, no buts.
Leniency by race card then,
Prison should be an automatic sentence for anyone assaulting an emergency worker, no if, no buts.
I agree with Norman. That sentence will surely scare and put off others from doing similar.
Disgusting sentence on this low life no deterrent whatsoever