The man who escaped jail for punching a policewoman repeatedly in the face while resisting an arrest last year said he wants to buy his victim flowers to apologise.
Ahmed El Lababidi bashed the senior constable, 29, after police responded to reports of a burglary in Glenroy, in Melbourne, on April 7.
When the constable told Lababidi, 26, he would be searched, he hit her three times, causing her teeth to pierce her lip, Herald Sun reported.
Ahmed El Lababidi (pictured) punched the senior constable, 29, in the face three times while resisting an arrest in the Mebourne suburb of Glenroy on April 7 last year
The attack left the constable out of work for six weeks and $15,000 out of pocket due to requiring reconstructive dental surgery.
Outside court Wednesday, Lababidi told Nine News he felt ‘very sorry’ over the attack.
‘I’ll have to give her flowers and a hug because I didn’t mean it,’ he said.
Lababidi escaped the six month mandatory prison sentence normally applicable to those who assault emergency service officers due to mental health related factors.
He was instead handed 200 hours of community service work after pleading guilty to resisting an emergency worker and intentionally causing injury.
The attack left the constable out of work for six weeks and $15,000 out of pocket due to requiring reconstructive dental surgery
Lababidi claimed he was acting in self defense when he lashed out, saying police officers were the first to use unjustified force.
‘They attacked me first, it was self-defense,’ he said.
Lababidi was charged with a number of offences including assaulting an emergency worker, but they were eventually dropped due to mental illness.
The Office of Public Prosecution has appealed the sentence, slamming it as far too light for the injuries incurred.
The body believes the mandatory six month prison sentence should have applied.
‘These mandatory minimum sentences were introduced … to ensure there was a baseline period of jail for anyone guilty of injuring our emergency services workers. How does this case not constitute that?,’ Police Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said.
The Office of Public Prosecution has appealed the sentence, slamming it as far too light for the injuries incurred
Lababidi claimed he was acting in self defense when he lashed out, saying police officers were the first to use unjustified force
The policewoman said the incident had changed her attitude towards her job and she no longer wanted to be on the front line.
‘There is always a lot more doubt in your mind because you’ve had a bad experience,’ she said.
‘It’s not how you should do your job — to have that mentality that everybody is out to get you.’
Along with ongoing medical bills, the officer has been left experiencing nightmares as a result of the forceful attack.
Mr Gatt said the offender receiving a ‘slap on the wrist’ was an inadequate penalty for the damage he inflicted, and hoped the decision would be adjusted when the matter returned to court next month.
Lababidi was charged with a number of offences including assaulting an emergency worker, but they were eventually dropped due to mental illness