No charges against CCTV officer

The officer punches Ms Comer five times in the incident

A police officer shown in CCTV footage punching a woman as he arrested her will not face criminal charges and has returned to frontline duties.

Leaked footage showed Pc Anthony Mulhall forcibly restraining Toni Comer, 20, after she was ejected from a Sheffield nightclub in July 2006.

He was withdrawn from public duty in March while the Independent Police Complaints Commission investigated.

A police source has told the BBC he is back at work and will not face charges.

Punched five times

The CCTV footage, obtained by the Guardian newspaper, shows Ms Comer and a police officer falling down a flight of stairs outside Sheffield's Niche nightclub.

Police had been called when Ms Comer vandalised a car after being thrown out of the club.

At the bottom of the stairs, she is restrained by officers, with the officer she fell with punching her five times. It is not clear where he punched her.

The footage shows Ms Comer, from Sheffield, writhing around on the ground, which she said was due to an epileptic fit. Police said she was trying to resist arrest.

She is later dragged to a police van with her trousers round her knees.

Ms Comer later admitted a charge of criminal damage to a car at Sheffield Magistrates' Court.