A police officer who feared for her life when a suspect put her in a chokehold has been praised for her "extraordinary" bravery.

PC Lauren Snoek was told by a judge during the sentencing hearing of her assailant, Zeus O'Sullivan, that she should be regarded as a "role model" to others.

O'Sullivan had reacted aggressively when the officer and a female colleague went to a reported domestic disturbance in Forge Lane, East Farleigh, near Maidstone, late at night on November 10 last year.

In the confrontation that followed, the burly 39-year-old hit PC Snoek in the face, pushed and pulled her, and threw her against a police vehicle before grabbing her around her face and neck with his right arm, pulling her in close and squeezing for several seconds.

He then continued to hold her in such a position after she had fallen to the ground.

Shocking body-worn camera footage played in court showed the petite officer screaming and fighting for breath during the terrifying struggle with the man who dwarfed her in stature.

Assistance from another colleague was required and O'Sullivan eventually released his grip after Pava spray was deployed in his face and he was taken to the ground.

However, Maidstone Crown Court heard during the struggle he also assaulted PC Lois Chalmers and PC Jason Hill.

O'Sullivan, of Forge Lane, later admitted three offences of assault on an emergency worker, as well as intentional strangulation and criminal damage in relation to PC Snoek's glasses which were broken in the incident.

At his sentencing hearing on Friday, May 31, Judge Philip Statman praised the work of Kent Police in general, telling O'Sullivan he knew "more than most" in his one-time employment as a bailiff the difficulties faced by officers.

But he directed more personal gratitude and admiration at PC Snoek, highlighting her "enormous strength of character".

"You are not just a serving police officer but the victim of crime," Judge Statman told her.

"In my judgement, you have behaved with an extraordinary amount of bravery, not just at the scene but by coming back to court to read your victim personal statement to me.

"You perform, with your colleagues, a most remarkable service for the community.

"I don't know, not just as a judge but as an ordinary man in the community, what we would do without police officers like you and your colleagues.

"I am deeply impressed by the manner in which your colleagues went to your aid on this particular evening. Also the level of restraint you were able to show, all of you, in what was an ugly incident.

"I know that police officers receive specialist training in regard to those suffering from mental health difficulties.

"But there you are, called upon to turn up at a moment's notice. You have to act on the spur of the moment and reach a right and proper conclusion as to the way you ought to act.

"I very much hope you will continue with your police career and that you will be a role model for others as a result of what you have been through, because we desperately need police officers of your calibre to help us within the community."

The comments made by Judge Statman were not the first to praise PC Snoek's capabilities.

Just three days after the violent incident involving O'Sullivan, she and two other colleagues were recognised for their bravery and professionalism at an official Kent Police award ceremony.

This related to an incident in June last year when they located a missing man and then performed life-saving resuscitation.

In respect of her involvement with O'Sullivan, the court heard he had lashed out after repeatedly asking who the officers were, despite them being in uniform, in a patrol vehicle and identifying themselves as police.

This, said the judge, may have been due in part to him being under the influence of alcohol, thereby exacerbating mental health problems which had emanated from him being subjected to violence himself in his former job and for which he was prescribed medication.

The court also heard that just a month before the assaults he had been admitted to Littlebrook mental health hospital in Dartford, where he remained voluntarily for two weeks.

Referring to the assaults on the three officers, Judge Statman said the incident lasted for a "comparatively short time".

But he added it would have seemed "like an eternity" for them.

"PC Snoek feared for her life....Without wanting to sound sexist or patronising, she is a young woman, aged 22, 5ft 2in tall. You are a burly 5ft 8in man," he told O'Sullivan, who had wept in the dock during his hearing.

"You should feel a deep sense of shame for the manner in which you behaved."

The judge concluded however that although his "shameful and violent" behaviour that night should be marked by a term of imprisonment, he could be spared immediate custody as his genuine mental health problems, coupled with ongoing efforts to address them, amounted to exceptional circumstances.

Explaining his decision, Judge Statman told O'Sullivan: "I'm confident that despite all the difficulties within a community setting, keeping you under the auspices of the community mental health team is a far better long-term safeguard than having you released no doubt within a very short period of time from a prison sentence and putting you back to square one in terms of the treatment available to you.

"Some will, at the end of the day, inevitably say that I have got it wrong but that is the burden a judge has on his or her shoulders."

Other factors taken into consideration on deciding the appropriate punishment included his lack of previous convictions for violence, his guilty pleas, genuine remorse, 200 days spent on a qualifying tagged curfew and the current state of the prison population.

O'Sullivan was given a 14-month jail term suspended for two years, with an alcohol abstinence monitoring condition for 120 days and 30 rehabilitation activity requirements.

The judge ordered that the £187 victim surcharge he also had to pay be diverted to PC Snoek as a "small token" of compensation.