Call for tougher sentences to be used when officers are assaulted

30 May 2022

Courts should use their full powers to hand down the maximum possible sentences to offenders who assault emergency services workers, according to Police Federation Welsh lead Nicky Ryan.

Nicky, who chairs the Federation’s Welsh Affairs Sub-Committee, spoke out after new figures showed there were 2,838 assaults against police officers, firefighters, ambulance staff, NHS workers and prison staff last year.

She said she was not surprised by the 4.9 per cent increase in attacks but admitted she was disappointed.

And she called on magistrates and judges to use the full weight of their sentencing powers to ensure justice for the victims.

She told BBC Radio Wales:  “The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which has just received royal assent, has increased the sentencing powers of the courts so a person who assaults an emergency services worker can now be imprisoned for up to two years.

“We now need to see the courts - the magistrates and the judges -  actually utilise those sentences.

“We have far too many cases of offenders receiving non-custodial sentences or prosecutions being dropped and that is not acceptable, it is devastating for the victim.”

Nicky described the growing number of assaults on emergency services personnel across Wales as unacceptable.

She said: “I only speak on behalf of police officers in Wales but I think the situation is the same across all the emergency services.

“Every single emergency services worker - and that definition is quite broad - is at risk every single day they go to work.

“Assaults on officers have a very real impact that cannot be underestimated. The physical injuries are very obvious to somebody but it is those mental injuries, it’s the impact of those.

“And quite often it’s not the one assault that causes the problem, it’s the drip, drip, drip effect over a period of time of that fear of being assaulted.”

Nicky said a Police Federation welfare survey found 15 per cent of respondents had suffered one or more injuries that required medical treatment.

The survey found 20 per cent had been physically assaulted, including with a weapon, and that two per cent had been coughed on or spat at.

“These numbers are quite high and they are quite worrying and every single one of those will have a devastating impact on the victim,” she said

“I have seen and supported many colleagues over the years that just never get back to frontline duties because the impact of an assault has been so devastating on them and also on their families.

“But what we also have to remember is that every time somebody is assaulted, that is one person removed from the frontline - albeit temporarily sometimes - and that places an additional strain on our already overstretched emergency services.”

Nicky said it had got to the stage when new recruits to the four Welsh forces were warned about the possibility of coming under attack while on duty.

She said: “We should never expect to be assaulted but we try to prepare them for the fact that they will be subjected to violence and to assaults but I don’t think anything actually prepares you for when it happens, especially when you have gone out to try to help somebody.”

Nicky highlighted a number of factors behind the surge in assaults on emergency services personnel.

She said: “The pandemic brought about issues for everyone but it almost created a new kind of assault offence with spitting and coughing being weaponised against colleagues - an offender would threaten to cough on them to infect them with Covid.

“Additionally, we have got better at reporting it and we have got better at recording it so the statistics are now more accurate.

“So I think there are a number of reasons as to why we have seen this increase but, ultimately, it is just not acceptable.”

And in a message to the Welsh public, she said: “We would just ask them to work with us. If you ask for our help, if you call for our help, please don’t then abuse us when we get there.”

North Wales Police Federation secretary Mark Jones said the new assault figures highlighted the challenges and difficulties faced by police officers on a daily basis.

He told BBC Radio Wales: “In my role with the Police Federation I get to see every day a report of the number of officers who get assaulted in North Wales and just today I have seen that a number of officers have been assaulted over the course of the weekend.

“They range in severity of injury and the circumstances are all very different but it is just part of a continuous trend of police officers and emergency service workers getting assaulted.”

When asked if the public had lost respect for the police, Mark replied: “There are some really good people out there and I think the vast majority of the public do support the police and the emergency services and I am grateful to every single one of them.

“But we are dealing with more and more people now who are willing to challenge, willing to be aggressive, willing to be violent and have no problem whatsoever lashing out at a police officer.”