Police Dog Attack at Illicit England Rave Leaves One Woman With Severe Injuries

The rave and subsequent police dog attack took place on Halloween in Yate, Bristol.

An investigation has been launched after a 28-year-old woman was allegedly attacked by a police dog during a raid on an illicit Halloween rave near Bristol.

The Guardian reports that police were called to the scene of an illegal warehouse rave around 10:30PM�ten miles from Bristol, in a small town called Yate, on Halloween night. The rave had been going for nearly 24 hours before police arrived. When police arrived, hundreds of partygoers were flushed out of the warehouse when a police dog was allegedly set loose on Jessica Mae Andrew without warning. 

"The officers opened their wall of shields up slightly and the next minute the dog was mauling the top of my leg," Andrew told The Guardian. "My leg is totally a different shape now as it pulled so much fat from the top."

Andrew was hospitalized after the attack, which left her with a life-altering injury. Following the incident, the Avon and Somerset branch of the Independent Office For Police Conduct (IOPC) launched an investigation. "There appears to be no justification at all for the dog in this case either being instructed or allowed to bite Jess," said Andrew's solicitor, Iain Gould.

Gould also cited a "lack of care and control displayed by the police handler who allowed his dog to maintain its attack on Jess for so long." "My client has effectively been maimed for life, for attending a dance party," he told The Guardian. 

The incident took place just before the United Kingdom instituted a second lockdown with more restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the previously mandated rule that banned gatherings of over six people at public events was still in effect. According to Avon And Somerset chief constable Andy Marsh, revelers were hurling bottles, shooting fireworks, and shouting verbal attacks at the officers onsite. The two organizers of the rave were each fined £10,000 and eight people were arrested. 

Footage of the police dog attack on Andrew was captured and shared on a Twitter page that documents knife crime in London and the United Kingdom. That footage can be found below. 

Warning: the content in the video below may be disturbing to some viewers.

Source: The Guardian

source https://edm.com/news/police-dog-attack-bristol-rave