A POLICE officer was left with bruising and teeth marks in her arm after being assaulted while on duty.

Gayle Dickinson, who works out of Bury Police Station, was helping two other officers remove a man from a nightclub when he “sank his teeth into her forearm”.

Nine months on, the constable still bears the scars of the incident.

Mum-of-one Gayle, who has worked with Greater Manchester Police for just over 15 years, said: “This is the worst injury I have sustained to date.

“It is clearly visible. I wear short-sleeved shirts to work and every time I look down I am reminded of what happened.

“It makes me angry. I have been left with a lumpy numb discoloured circle on my arm, which still has the teeth marks clearly visible. This is nine months after the event.”

The 38-year-old, who predominantly covers the Bury, Ramsbottom and Prestwich areas, was helping to police Manchester city centre's night time economy when the assault occurred.

Gayle and her colleague were called to help two other officers remove a man from The Venue Nightclub in Manchester city centre.

She said: “He refused to help us or himself. Eventually we had no other option than to try and carry him out. At that point, he turned aggressive.

“One of my colleagues was wearing some leather slash proof gloves, he bit one of the fingers clean off his gloves.

“He then tried to actively fight us and in the process of trying to restrain him he leaned forward and sank his teeth into my forearm. He wouldn’t open his mouth and after much swearing, shouting and general profanity from myself, I ended up forcing my fingers up his nose which had the desired effect.

"He was carried out of the club and arrested."

Gayle has had to undergo a course of antibiotics, a tetanus jab and numerous blood tests since the assault.

She added: "I honestly believe if it wasn’t for my high-visibility jacket I would have been looking at reconstructive surgery."

On October 9, Ryan Wilson, aged 25, of Stand Lane, Radcliffe, was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison after he pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm.

He also admitted to damaging a leather glove belonging to Greater Manchester Police.

In addition to the jail sentence he was ordered to pay his victim £120 in compensation.

Gayle said: “I was expecting a community based punishment given his lack of offending history, so I’m satisfied as I can be with the outcome.”