PC injured in hammer attack

A policeman from the same unit as the murdered constable Nina McKay was in hospital yesterday after being beaten unconscious with a claw hammer during a house siege. The 36-year-old constable's life was probably saved by the hard hat he was wearing, Scotland Yard said. He was also wearing his protective Met Vest, the light body armour worn under clothes that is due to replace the heavier external armour which PC Mckay had removed on the day she was stabbed to death.

Officers were called to a block of flats in east London early yesterday when a man wielding a hammer began smashing windows and throwing furniture into the street. Members of the Territorial Support Group (TSG) forced their way into the flat, but the man broke through their shield wall and hit one on the head with the hammer before jumping off the balcony. The man, believed to be in his thirties, was arrested and taken to Limehouse police station, where he was charged with attempted murder.