2010 tuition fee protests in London, where Andrew Ott assaulted a student. Image: Phil Rogers under Creative Commons Licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/

[This is an update of our previous story]

PC Ott, who was found guilty yesterday of causing actual bodily harm, has been sentenced to eight months in prison at Southwark Crown Court.

The Met police officer knocked a student protestor’s tooth out with his riot shield during the tuition fee protests in London in 2010.

As he sentenced PC Ott, the judge made it clear that the officer had used unnecessary force against victim William Horner:

This offence was committed in a sterile area, in relative darkness, when you had the victim cornered and no violence was necessary at all.

An extremely serious aggravating factor is your abuse of power as a police officer.

You hit him with a full force blow to his face with your shield. That was wholly gratuitous, unnecessary violence, and I have considered the stress on William Horner over the last few years.