Hoxton crystal meth thug who gouged at PC’s eyes jailed
A crystal meth drug user who tried to gouge a police officer’s eyes out and then barricaded himself in a terrified couple’s home has been jailed for almost three years.
Banned driver Benji Frimpong, 33, of Murray Grove, Hoxton, was pulled over in his Vauxhall Astra after being spotted by Pc Kevin Nelson driving on the wrong side of the road and speeding through a red light at the junction of De Beauvoir Road and Downham Road.
He jumped out of the car and hid in bushes before launching a “brutal” attack on Pc Nelson when he found him.
Frimpong gouged at his eyes and when the officer put his hands up to indicate surrender his attacker continued punching him in the head and face, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
Frimpong then stormed into an elderly couple’s home where their young granddaughter was asleep upstairs and barricaded himself in the bathroom.
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The father-of-one, who at the time was working as a cash-in-hand delivery driver, was arrested after police used CS gas to subdue him.
Cocaine
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Pc Nelson required hospital treatment after suffering a hairline fracture to his cheekbone and bruising, said prosecutor Nicola Merrick.
In interview, Frimpong said he had taken cocaine and some crystal meth which caused his “mad rush” on July 13.
Frimpong had been banned from the road in September 2010 for dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.
He was also jailed for three months for driving while disqualified and without insurance in July 2007 and for two years for a robbery in 2004, the court heard.
Judge David Radford sentenced him to a total of 33 months in jail after he admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and battery.
Judge Radford also banned Frimpong from the road for four years and ordered he must take an extended driving test.
Philippa Paige, mitigating, said Frimpong was sorry and horrified by his behaviour and only remembered “flashes” of it.
Speaking after sentencing Ch Insp Brian Duffy said: ‘My officer acted with courage and determination in detaining this man and in the process sustained serious facial injuries.”
