Pro-Palestine protester and father-of-four jailed for smashing police officer with megaphone

A father-of-four has been jailed after he struck a police over over the head with a megaphone at a pro-Palestine protest.

Atif Shafiq, from Walthamstow in east London, left the officer needing stitches after attacking him at a rally in Whitehall on Saturday.

The 41-year-old appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on Monday wearing a t-shirt with a Palestine flag and "love Palestine" on the back.

He was among a reported 100,000 protesters who took to the streets of central London at the weekend.

District Judge Denis Brennan told Shafiq his actions could have "provoked a volatile reaction from the crowd".

Prosecutor Anushka Levey said Shafiq pulled the red megaphone he was wielding "to shoulder height" before he "hit the victim around the head".

The officer suffered a "large laceration" and needed two stitches when he was taken to hospital.

The court heard Shafiq, who had attended numerous protests in the past, ended up behind the police cordon with a number of other protesters before ignoring police orders to "get back".

The injured officer said a man "smashed something" over the top of his head before blood started coming.

Sentencing Shafiq to six months in jail, District Judge Brennan said: "This country has an honourable tradition of peaceful protest.

"What you did was assault a police constable who was on duty causing him a serious injury."

Shafiq was also ordered to pay the injured officer £200 in compensation.

There were nine arrests during the protest according to police, some of which are being treated as hate crimes.

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