An arrested sex menace tricked his hospital guards, freeing himself to launch a vicious assault on a female police officer using his handcuffs as a weapon, a court heard. Ibrahim Abdulrheman, 22, was jailed for two years at Croydon Crown Court on Thursday (May 15), to be served while already on recall for offences, which were not read out in open court.
Abdulrheman – who the court heard is subject to a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) – was under supervision from PC Georgia Brocklehurst and a PC Matthews at Princess University Hospital in Orpington late on February 17 when he complained his cuffs were too tight. After finding no problem with the shackles, PC Matthews agreed to get the defendant some water and left the room.
While PC Matthews was gone, by now the early hours of February 18, Abdulrheman asked if he could sit on a chair closer to PC Brocklehurst, who agreed. But as they waited for PC Matthews to return, Abdulrheman somehow escaped a handcuff and attempted to leap over PC Brocklehurst’s legs. Grabbing him by the sweater, the PC was dragged across the floor, bravely refusing to let go.
At some point during the struggle, with it evident he would need a code to escape the building, Abdulrheman turned around a punched PC Brocklehurst in the face ‘with full force’, along with a ‘large clump’ of the metal handcuff, the court was told.
Abdulrheman then kicked and pulled at the door, still trying to get out, but PC Brocklehurst carried on fighting, by now feeling ‘half conscious and weak’. Eventually, a doctor, PC Matthews, and another officer were able to detain the defendant.
In an impact statement, PC Brocklehurst – who suffered a broken nose, chipped tooth, and two black eyes – said she had been slapped, spat at, and pushed in her career, ‘but nothing like this’, and now fears working closely with suspects again.
“He set up a game plan of his own, targeting me over my male colleague. He made an effort to punch me in the face repeatedly, using the still-attached metal handcuff as a weapon. I was lucky the handcuff did not catch my eye as I would be blind,” said PC Brocklehurst, adding: “This was the scariest moment of my career so far, and of my life.”
‘My reality was beyond reasoning’
Abdulrheman was arrested and made a full confession, claiming his behaviour was induced by a load of drugs he took before his initial arrest and hospital admission. He also admitted asking for water and to move seats to facilitate his escape. Abdulrheman has five previous convictions for non-relevant offences, and also faces sentencing at another court for breaching his SHPO.
In a letter to Judge Daniel Flahive, Abdulrheman expressed his remorse and said he was ‘horrified’ by photos of PC Brocklehurst’s injuries. “Unfortunately, this incident happened because I had taken an excessive amount of drugs and my reality was beyond reasoning,” he explained.
Abdulrheman’s barrister said he was born in Sudan in a refugee camp and had witnessed his first killing at just eight years old. After leaving the war-torn country in 2014, he arrived in the UK in 2018 and has been unable to work ever since while seeking asylum. This increased the chance of Abdulrheman turning to criminality ‘out of frustration’, but was no excuse, his defender suggested.
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Flahive noted Abdulrheman ‘deliberately isolated’ the female officer by getting her male colleague to leave the room, and that her nose was still deformed and her tooth chipped after the savage attack.
Receiving consecutive sentences of 16 months for the GBH, and eight months for the attempted escape from custody, Abdulrheman was jailed for a total of 24 months, which will be served concurrently to his existing sentence.
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