Sergeant haunted by 'terrifying' attack from fellow cop

A DECORATED police sergeant has described being attacked by a fellow officer as the “single most terrifying incident of his life” — one that haunts him daily.

- By Jon Austin

Matthew Seekings made the revelation in a witness statement to a misconduct hearing into the actions of disgraced PC Oliver Birch, who attacked him while off-duty in a Brighton hotel room.

Birch, 45, repeatedly punched and then stamped on Sgt Seekings when he tried to arrest and handcuff him in his room at the DoubleTree Hilton Brighton Metropole hotel in the early hours of March 9, 2023.

The Sussex Police officer, who was commended for bravery this year after he and another sergeant swam 60 metres out to sea in the dark in May 2024 to rescue a teenage girl, required treatment at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton for multiple injuries.

The attack took place after Birch hired a Lamborghini Huracán to drive to Brighton and openly took cocaine with students after telling them he was a serving police officer.