A FORMER soldier has been jailed for partly ripping the nose from the face of a police sergeant and dislocating a constable’s knee in an attack in Tavistock.

David Bull, 37, launched a savage attack on the two officers after they stopped him drink-driving, a jury decided.

Bull, who is 6ft 4ins tall and 17 stone, used his combat skills but then blamed his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for the attack.

The former Royal Engineer put his fingers in the nostrils of Sgt David Clarke and pulled back his head before kicking PC Jenny Mashford in the knee — dislocating the joint and turning her leg through 90 degrees.

His Honour Mr Justice James Dingemans jailed Bull for seven years at Plymouth Crown Court.

He said: ‘These were assaults on public servants doing their best in very difficult circumstances.

‘You inserted your fingers into his nostrils and attempted to gouge his eyes. The injuries on Sergeant Clarke involved his nose being partly ripped from his face.

‘You kicked PC Mashford in the knee using your unarmed combat training in a way which immediately disabled her and took her to the ground.’

He added that Bull, who has served in Afghanistan and Iraq, was in a rage and so drunk that he could not recall much of the incident.

The Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, Shaun Sawyer, said after the trial that he was appalled by the attack.

Bull, now living in Luton in Bedfordshire but previously living in Tavistock, denied causing grievous bodily harm to the officers with intent in the early hours of April 12 last year.

He claimed he had a flashback of being in combat in the Sierra Leone jungle because of his PTSD and saw Sgt Clarke as ‘the enemy’.

The jury took about three and a half hours to reach unanimous verdicts on both counts, rejecting his claim as a ‘smokescreen for his drunken, angry violence’.

The jury heard over a three-day trial that Sgt Clarke and PC Mashford stopped Bull driving a Citroën without lights along Plymouth Road in Tavistock just after midnight.

Bull was later found to be about two and a half times the legal alcohol limit for driving.

The former soldier complied at first but then picked up Sgt Clarke in a headlock and walked him backwards until they went to the ground.

Bull put his fingers up the officer’s nose and wrenched his head back, causing excruciating pain and tried to put a thumb in his eye.

The defendant kicked PC Mashford in the leg so that it turned 90 degrees, dislocating her knee and putting her to the ground.

The court heard that she still managed to pepper spray Bull so that Sgt Clarke could finally break free.

Sgt Clarke told the jury it was a ‘fight for survival’.

PC Mashford cried as she relived memories of the night which saw her undergo almost a year of treatment.

The court heard that he had spent more than 13 years in the Royal Engineers and had served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone.

He claimed he had worked with a special forces unit — but this was disputed by the prosecution.

Bull added that he had been court martialled for assault by the Army but he had accepted voluntary redundancy in 2013.

He said that he had struggled in civilian life, finding it difficult to find work and control his drinking.

Two psychologists agreed that he showed symptoms of suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Defence expert Dr Ian Anderson said that at the time of the alleged assault in Tavistock last year Mr Bull was probably in a ‘trance-like state’.

He added that he suffered flashbacks about his service in Sierra Leone — hence the jungle reference.

But Dr Phillip Moore said the loss of memory that night was more likely to have been caused by the alcohol he had drunk.

He added that Bull showed ‘narcissistic tendencies’.

Michael Green, for Bull, said his client had been working for a security company.

He added that the father-of-two had been teaching schoolchildren bushcraft and had run the London Marathon for charity.

Mr Green said that despite argument about his service, Bull had served his country for more than 13 years.

Judge Dingemans said: ‘I wish to place on record the court’s appreciation for the actions of Sgt Clarke and PC Mashford that night.’

Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer said after the case that his officers suffered a ‘sustained, serious and brutal attack’.

He added that four police officers and staff were on average assaulted every week in Devon and Cornwall.

Mr Sawyer said: ‘Both officers were just doing their jobs in keeping our communities safe and, reading their statements, I am appalled to hear how two of my officers were treated on that evening.’