Former Met Police firearms officer who strangled wife spared jail 'because he had the decency to ring 999'

'I want to report an assault and I am the perpetrator'

Pere Daobry, 44, has been sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for one year

A former covert firearms officer for the Metropolitan Police has had his jail sentence for strangling his wife until she passed out suspended, reportedly because he had the "decency" to call 999.

Pere Daobry, 44, who now works as a guard for a member of the UAE royal family, assaulted Sarah Jay, a former Essex Police sergeant, in the bedroom after she said she no longer loved him.

After the attack on 27 December last year, Daobry called the police, Colchester Magistrates' Court heard.

“I want to report an assault and I am the perpetrator," he told them, according to the Daily Gazette. “I have assaulted my wife.”

When the operator asked if he needed an ambulance, Daobry said: "Yeah, I strangled her."

He later denied the assault, claiming to have used a police-approved choke hold to stop Ms Jay from taking an overdose, but was found guilty after a trial.

Another Colchester Magistrates' Court sentenced him to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for one year because Daobry had no previous convictions and had "the decency" to call 999 and report the crime.

“There is no credit for an early guilty plea," Alix Mason, chair of the Magistrates' bench, said. "Having said that, we do take note you have no previous convictions and you had the decency to ring 999.”

She gave Daory a year-long restraining order and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.