Sentences to increase for officer assaults

15 September 2020

The Government has agreed to fast-track an increase in maximum sentences for assaults on police officers.

The Police Federation, through its Protect the Protectors campaign, has been calling for longer sentences for assaults on all emergency workers and the new law will double the maximum term from 12 months’ imprisonment to two years.

Pete Musgrave, chair of Humberside Police Federation, has welcomed this latest breakthrough.

“Our Protect the Protectors lobbying has been all about safeguarding the wellbeing of our officers and our blue light colleagues. Attacks on police officers are totally unacceptable yet they have increased, even during the pandemic when some individuals spat and coughed at officers while claiming to have coronavirus.

“These despicable attacks have to stop and I hope this increase in sentencing sends out that message clearly. But we also need the courts to hand out the toughest possible sentences when offenders are brought before them.”

More than 11,000 people were prosecuted for assaulting an emergency worker in 2019, according to Ministry of Justice statistics.

This latest change in the law will be the second in two years after the 2018 Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act increased the maximum sentence from six months to a year.

The new law will mean that when a person is convicted of offence, including sexual assault or manslaughter, a judge must consider whether an offence against an emergency worker merits an increase in sentence.