Every time my wife looks at me she will see scars on my face from attack by knifeman
PC TELLS OF NIGHT HE WAS SLASHED BY DRUG-FUELLED MAN
COURAGEOUS Derby police officer PC Steve Reid has spoken openly about the night he was slashed to the face by a drug-fuelled attacker.
The Derby County fan told how his “life has changed forever” since Richard Jefford inflicted two horrific wounds on him.
The constable was with newlyqualified officer PC Ronnie Korbiel responding to reports that Jefford had just robbed a man in the Slack Lane area of the city on October 15, 2019.
This week, almost two years later, the colleagues embraced outside the court room as cowardly Jefford could not even be bothered to leave his cell and find himself put behind bars for a decade.
In a video released by Derbyshire Constabulary, PC Reid’s body cam footage shows the dramatic moment he confronts his attacker before recoiling back, shouting: “I have been slashed”, over his police radio.
On the film, still with the permanent scars visible from the 15 stitches he required to heal the wounds, he said: “This is me having to live through it. That danger never goes away and this is a deterrent for everyone that goes out carrying a knife not to carry one.
“I did not know how many times I had been slashed, it was a blur, but I knew I had been slashed down the face.
“I did not see anything, there was no warning, it was fight or flight mode.
“Do you just try and get away or do you fight?”
On Thursday afternoon Jefford refused to leave his cell at HMP Nottingham and therefore was sentenced in his absence by a Derby Crown Court judge, sitting at Nottingham Crown Court.
After first being charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on PC Reid, he denied the offence.
His trial began in December last year, but the jury were discharged after a number of days of hearing evidence when Jefford, aged 39, of no fixed address, changed his account of what happened. That meant PC Reid, a married father-of-three and grandfather-oftwo, had months to wait and find out when the new trial would be. Then, in July this year, Jefford finally pleaded guilty to the charge along with robbery, criminal damage, possession of crack cocaine and heroin, all relating to what Judge Robert Egbuna called “a drugfuelled, uncontrollable, violent rampage”.
In his sentencing remarks, the judge said: “It was a horribly dangerous weapon and the injuries speak volumes.
“You could have killed the officer, you could have blinded the officer. You have left him with permanent scarring.
“It was sheer luck neither if these happened.
“The impact on his wife and family had been devastating.
“The impact on his colleagues has been devastating. The impact on PC Reid has been devastating.”
The police video shows the true horror of exactly what happened to PC Reid, who has served in the force for 20 years.
At one stage, bandages being held to his head are removed and his arms are seen to be covered in blood.
On Thursday afternoon, he read his own victim impact statement to the court at Jefford’s hearing.
In it he said: “Mr Jefford will serve his sentence and hopefully be able to get on with the rest of his life.
“Every time my wife looks at me, for the rest of our lives, she will see the scarring on my face.
“Scars that can never be hidden with make-up or clothing.
“As our grandchildren grow older, they will ask; “Grandad, what are those lines on your face?”
“The psychological damage will never fully heal, the scars will be there as a constant reminder.
“I loved being frontline police officer but have become a shadow of my former self.”
I did not know how many times I had been slashed, it was a blur, but I knew I had been slashed to the face PC Steve Reid