Luke Ponte, defending, described PC Pastina as 'thoughtful, conscientious and hardworking' but conceded: 'It may be difficult to reconcile what you have seen on the body worn footage'.
'Of course officers must show restraint, but the exceptional feature is her psychiatric background. It was the first time that she had been assaulted in this gravity at work.'
Wait, what? What sort of 'psychiatric background'?
And why is someone with any sort of 'psychiatric background' working as a frontline cop?
District Judge Annabel Pilling told PC Pastina: 'The body worn footage does not make for pleasant viewing. The officer I saw is not the officer I read about in the reports.
'I saw an officer using appalling language filled with vitriol and it appeared that loss of temper got the better of her.
'It is right that up until that point you were someone of good character, even exemplary character, but the flip-side is that makes it far worse.
'Trying to control an erratic and potentially dangerous defendant, you crossed that line to a criminal offence.' PC Pastina broke down in tears in the dock as she was sentenced to 16 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years.
What the hell are they doing in the recruitment section of the Met?
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