Man who shot Staffordshire police officer in the face given hospital order as 'still a danger to the public'
The Rugeley man who shot a police officer in the face at point blank range ten years ago is still a danger to society and will remain indefinitely in a secure mental health unit.
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Staffordshire Police sergeant Jon King responded to a call to help paramedics at Matthew Tearle's Rugeley home on October 19, 2014.
For five hours the veteran cop tried to convince Tearle, along with his mother and brother, to surrender but the paranoid schizophrenic instead fired a paintball gun three times through the front door, inches away from Sergeant King's face.
The father of two lost an eye and the majority of the sight from his remaining eye. Another officer had a lucky escape with the plastic projectile flying through his hair.
After serving 26 years on the force Jon was forced to retire due to his injuries which sparked a ten year battle to recover physically and mentally. Tearle yesterday (Thursday) appeared before Stafford Crown Court, via video link, for a hearing concerning the renewal of the hospital order which confines him to a secure mental health unit.
