Magistrate Carlisle Greaves vowed yesterday to get tough with people who injure police officers as he sent a woman to prison for nine months for damaging a policewoman's eye.

Twenty two-year-old Jah-Nikka Claudette Young of Rec View Hill, Devonshire, scratched the right eye of P.c. Keysha Burgess during a domestic dispute on October 10 at a Devonshire home after a night of drinking.

The officer was attempting to handcuff Young after the dispute at a friend's house when she was scratched in the eye by Young's long fingernails.

The court heard that Young, who has a seven-year-old daughter, was the victim of sexual abuse by her stepfather from the age of six and had since developed drink and behavioural problems.

But Mr. Greaves refused to accept that as an excuse for the injury that had caused “such hurt and suffering” to the Police officer.

The 27-year-old Police officer attended Magistrates' Court yesterday and gave a tearful Victim Impact Statement in a courtroom darkened to allow her to feel more comfortable.

“I have had very intense pain and suffering,” said P.c. Burgess in a moving statement in which she constantly paused to wipe away tears from under her weighty medical glasses.

“I continue to have headaches and I can't look directly into the light. I am limited in what activities I can do - I cannot read due to the damage inflicted to my eye.

“My vision is very blurred, I suffer from a burning sensation and I cannot make out objects. And my household is suffering as I am the only driver.

“This has been a traumatic experience and one that will scar me for life. It hurts to look in the mirror knowing that my face doesn't seem to be getting any better. I can't enjoy the sunshine, I can't enjoy the fresh air. I have been blessed with two eyes and now I am basically down to one-and-a-half.”

When told by Mr. Greaves that a probation sentence had been recommended for Young, the officer again broke down and screamed: “I have suffered nightmares.

“I see Miss Young in my dreams. You have don't know what you have done to me. I can't believe that you would do this to someone. You don't know how many people you have hurt.”

In mitigation, Young's mother, Gayle Tavares, told the court: “She has a seven year old daughter and she has started counselling again and will keep going for as long as it takes.”

And social worker Ivan Smith, who has worked with Young for more than a year, said: “She has a drink problem but if she gets proper treatment for her alcohol problem she will do well.

“She is a young mother with the most darling daughter you will find. Given a chance she could do something with her life.”

Although Mr. Greaves recognised that Young had been through a lot and praised her for trying to get her life back together through counselling, he said the attack on the Police officer was too vicious to escape a jail term.

“This is a serious matter,” he told the court. “She (Young) has been repeatedly sexually assaulted by her stepfather since she was six-years-old and as a result she as developed a tremendous amount of anger and has become pretty deviant.

“I feel the pain that she feels when she remembers her dirty stepfather doing what he did but I can't see how this can relate to the situation where she behaves this badly in public.

“You seem to have shown nothing but disdain for this Policewoman and continued your tirade. The result is a serious injury to a Police officer's eyes.

“Here you have a 27-year-old woman who has to put on dark shades in a darkened courtroom. This is the first time in 30 years in courts that I have ever sat in darkness but it is nothing compared to the darkness that this young lady (Burgess) has been plunged into. I cannot imagine what she is going through. Too often in today's world, courts have become so soft that the accused becomes the victim. You hear fancy speeches made for them, you hear reasons and excuses for their behaviour.

“I have no doubt that you, Miss Young, are very, very, very sorry for what you have done - but this is a feeling after the event. Whatever happens to Miss Young, she is not danger of losing her eyes.

“I don't think a term of imprisonment will destroy your life, I think it will straighten it out. You have to pay for what you have done.”

He sentenced Young to nine months in jail followed by two years on probation.

In locking up Young, Mr. Greaves was determined to send out a message to the community that attacks on Police officers will not be tolerated.

“The message has to be strong,” said Mr. Greaves during sentencing. “That young people who feel that they continually beat up Police officers will not get away with it. This judge is going to come down on you - I'm getting tired of it.

“I am hurt that this could happen to this young lady. I'm going to express my disgust with this matter by giving you a jail sentence. If you mess with the Police violently, you are going to jail, period. Justice will be swift.”

A colleague of the injured officer, who asked not to be named, told The Royal Gazette after the case: “I think the sentence was fair. Any attack on an officer which leads to actual bodily harm should lead to a mandatory jail sentence.”