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French athlete Eunice Barber bites policeman

Friday, 05 December 2008

French athlete Eunice Barber bites policeman

Former athletics world champion Eunice Barber has been given a fine of 5,000 euros (£4,271) when she was sentenced for the charges of resisting arrest, insulting and biting a policeman.

The French athlete, who in the past had won heptathlon and long jump world titles for France in 1999 and 2003, had been on trial at a court near Paris and she described the outcome as "worse than injustice".

34-year-old Barber claimed she was the victim of police brutality during her encounter with six police officers in 2006 and she said she would be appealing against the sentence.

Barber's car had been stopped by police for entering a street that was closed for traffic in the Paris' suburb of Saint Denis.

Sierra Leone-born Barber claimed one of the policemen slapped her in the face but the officer concerned denied this allegation.

Barber said she had bitten the policeman in self-defence.

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