Hundreds of attacks on police in Nottinghamshire last year

The Police Federation described the ‘appalling’ rise in offences nationally as a stain on society and said emergency workers should be able to carry out their duties safely.

Home Office figures show Nottinghamshire Police recorded 612 assaults on emergency workers in the year to March, up from 589 in 2020-21.

All of the alleged victims were PCs – there were 495 assaults without injury and 117 with injury on constables last year.

This means Nottinghamshire was one of just a handful of areas not to see any assaults on other types of emergency workers last year.

Across the two nations, 44,600 emergency worker assaults were recorded in 2021-22 – a rise of 10 per cent on the 40,400 the year before.

Since the Assaults on Emergency Workers Bill came into law in 2018, the maximum prison sentence for common assault on an emergency worker has been 12 months.

The offence applies to attacks on ‘blue light’ workers such as police, paramedics and firefighters, along with many others, including prison officers, NHS workers and St John Ambulance volunteers.

The Police Federation said the rise in assaults on emergency workers is appalling and must not be tolerated or seen as just part of the job.

Steve Hartshorn, federation national chairman, said: “Assaults on emergency workers are a stain on society and many of these assaults which are recorded without an injury would have been vile spitting and coughing attacks.”

He said it is vital judges and magistrates make full use of the new law to ensure the sentence handed down reflects the seriousness and gravity of the crime.

Separate figures show the proportion of offenders charged has fallen nationwide, from 68 per cent to just 62 per cent in 2021-22.

In Nottinghamshire, 567 emergency worker assault investigations concluded last year, with 72 per cent resulting in a charge or summons, down from 79 per cent in 2020-21.

PTSD 999, a support organisation for all emergency services, said stronger sentencing for offenders would protect both the public and those facing assaults.

A Government spokesman said: “Assaults on members of our emergency services are unacceptable, which is why this government has doubled the maximum penalty for assaulting an emergency worker.”