Officer fears facial scarring after vicious attack

9 June 2025

A police officer fears she might have permanent scarring on her face after being attacked while making an arrest.

The attacker stuck her fingernails into the cheek of PC Mia Ball, leaving the officer with deep cuts and scratches.

And speaking about the attack, 27-year-old Mia fears she will be left with permanent damage to her face.

“She had wrapped her fingers and fingernails into my cheek and scrunched it up.

“She just wouldn’t let go and left me with quite nasty cuts and scabs.

 

PC Mia Ball.

 

“The moment I saw my face, all I thought was this is going to scar.”

For Mia, the attack hasn’t just left physical wounds, but mental too, after the officer spent much of her 20s overcoming severe acne on her face. 

“I spent six or seven years battling acne and scarring. I've got to a point where I'm left with minimal scarring and also minimal spots,” she explained.

“Acne is not for the fainthearted. It affects your day-to-day life. I invested a lot into treating the acne, and I was in a place where I was finally comfortable in my skin.

“Now, this woman could have changed my face in 30 seconds of digging her fingernails in and not letting go. It’s worrying.

Damage

“If you watch the body worn footage from the attack, you can hear how concerned I am that she has damaged my face and skin.

“I'm so grateful for having my hair in a bun as well. I know it's mandatory uniform, but if I hadn't she’d have ripped clumps out of my hair.”

And being physically scarred is not the only concern for Mia. Her attacker was a known drug user, and Mia was initially concerned she might suffer an infection around the wounds.

Mia said: “The feeling and the thought of her fingernails embedded into my skin was horrible, especially on my face, where the dirt could have potentially gotten into my skin.

“My colleagues were absolutely brilliant.

 

PC Mia Ball as the scars were beginning to heal.

 

“I said to my sergeant, please do not leave custody until you know that she has no contagious diseases, because if that is the case, I shall be going straight to A&E.”

The attack happened in Daventry on Monday 19 May.

Mia and her colleagues, PC Kimberley Streuli, PC Tom Roberts, and Special Constable Nicola Orrill had responded to calls of a neighbour dispute.

A woman had been throwing eggs, milk, jars of curry, and even faeces onto her neighbour’s property. She had also smashed the window of a neighbour on the other side with a jar.

Mia described how the attacker had barricaded the front door and a side alley was full of clutter, meaning the only way into the property was from the rear.

Aggressive

There, the gate was bolted and Mia climbed onto a 5ft garden wall to get in.

Mia said: “She was so verbally aggressive, threatening me, telling me that anything she did was going to be my fault. That she couldn't be held responsible for hurting me and attacking me and that I was going to come out with injuries.”

Mia informed the woman that she was being arrested. But instead of coming quietly, she picked up a bike and threatened to throw it at the officers.

At that point, Mia sprayed the woman with PAVA, forcing her to drop the bike, and jumped into the garden with Kimberley.

“I had this vision that if she went back into her property, she'd lock the doors and we wouldn’t be able to get in,” Mia added.

Harm

“She'd probably have armed herself to harm us or to harm herself.”

It was at this point that the attacker dug her fingernails into Mia’s face and grabbed her hair bun. Kimberley was unable to prise her fingers off Mia’s face before Tom entered the garden and forced the attacker to lose her grip.

“She punched me in the face as well, at one point,” said Mia.

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has long campaigned for the toughest possible sentences for those who assault officers.

And Mia, who has recently been voted in as a new Northamptonshire Police Federation rep, gave her support to the calls.

Attack

Mia said: “I went to see my grandparents, and my grandad is 91 and doesn't understand how somebody would attack police officers and hurt us.

“I’ve been a police officer for nearly three years, but I was a PCSO before that, and assaults on police are getting worse.

“Something needs to change. We need to send the message that attacks on officers won’t be tolerated.”

Northamptonshire Police Federation chair Sam Dobbs echoed the calls.

He said: “Our members are sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, and have families to go home to at the end of their shift. Families that worry tirelessly when their loved ones are on a shift, and won’t stop worrying until they see them walk through the door back home.

Assaults

“Far too often we hear the words ‘it’s part of the job’, well, it is not part of the job. But sadly, these assaults are happening on a daily basis and inflict physical and psychological injury on officers.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it - nobody has the right to use officers as punch-bags. We must not normalise this.”

“The courts now have tougher sentencing powers for those who attack police officers, after it was doubled two years ago to a maximum of two years in prison.

“I’ll be interested to see if the courts start using these powers and sentencing those who assault officers appropriately.

“The entire Criminal Justice System (CJS) needs to be sending the same message: that assaults on officers won’t be tolerated.”

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