A man who sprayed ammonia in the face of a police officer and threatened him with a gun has been jailed for 16 years.
Shortly after midnight on 17 June last year police were called to reports of people acting suspiciously around parked vehicles on Commonside East, Mitcham in Surrey.
On arrival, PC Samuel Goard walked up to speak to one of the suspicious loiterers, James Boyle.
After he told Boyle to take his hands out of his pocket, the 22-year-old pulled out a bottle of ammonia and sprayed it in his face before moving towards him.
PC Goard was temporarily blinded in one eye but managed to use his PAVA spray against his attacker, causing him to flee.
PC Goard said: “At the time of the incident I was in complete fear for my life. I did not know what the male had sprayed at me."
