Officer who beat me was a thug out for blood says protester

Nicola Fisher, 35, was badly bruised in the alleged assault outside the Bank of England on 2 April, which was filmed and posted on YouTube.

The former drug addict has now sold her story to a newspaper, reportedly for £50,000 after hiring publicist Max Clifford. She is also believed to be planning a substantial compensation claim.

The sergeant, from the Met's Territorial Support Group, had concealed his identity number on his epaulettes. He has since been suspended.

Ms Fisher's claims came as new pictures emerged of 47-year-old Ian Tomlinson, who died of a heart attack during protests a day earlier.

The photographs, taken about 15 minutes before his death, appear to confirm claims that Mr Tomlinson had been involved in an altercation with police before the "shove" that is believed to have caused his death. It is also alleged that he was nudged by a police van after he refused to move for police officers.

Ms Fisher made her claims today in the Daily Express.The activist, who works at an animal sanctuary in East Sussex, was at a vigil in the City for Mr Tomlinson when she was hit by the officer.

She said: "The policeman is a thug with a weapon which he is legally allowed to use. He can do what he wants.

"I was weeping and in the most dreadful pain. I looked like I had been whipped by the Taliban. I had a bruise measuring seven inches by four across the back of my thigh. And I had another purple four-inch bruise across the back of my calf."

Ms Fisher describes herself as "a tree-hugger" with a passion for animal welfare and the environment. She said she had travelled to London from Brighton with her boyfriend Gavin Shepherd, 30, on the second day of the protest.

She denied that she had been shouting and swearing at the sergeant just before the incident. She said: "I put my hands up to stop him pushing against me and the next minute I thought he had punched me in the face. But in fact he had backhanded me across my left cheek.

"It was very painful and I screamed, 'How can you hit a woman in the face?'

"The policeman was very aggressive. His eyes were bulging and he was clearly looking for a fight. The next moment he lashed out at me with his baton, hitting me across the back of my left thigh. At the same time he again brought his truncheon crashing down on my calf."

Ms Fisher said she now has problems sleeping. She said: "The cop was a thug out for blood. He was a thug with a weapon."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has now received 145 complaints after the clashes between police and protesters at the G20 summit.