Police boss says emergency worker attackers should be jailed

Philip Allott said to often those convicted were not jailed

Offenders who attack emergency workers should be jailed, according to North Yorkshire's Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC).

Philip Allott said the county recorded 696 assaults on emergency workers in 2020/21.

The majority were attacks on police officers, he added.

Mr Allott said the figures were "shocking" and too often defendants were given a non-custodial sentence or fined.

Of the 696 assaults recorded between June 2020 and June 2021, 177 resulted in emergency workers being injured and one in eight was against a police officer.

"The sheer number of crimes where an emergency worker has been assaulted in North Yorkshire and York over the past year shocked me, and I know it will shock all those reading them too," Mr Allott said.

The majority of assaults were on police officers, Mr Allott said

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, currently going through Parliament, would increase the maximum sentence for anyone found guilty of assaulting an emergency service worker, such as by thumping, kicking, pushing, shoving or spitting, to two years.

"Those convicted can already be given a custodial sentence and all too often this punishment is not the one they receive," Mr Allott said.

"As these numbers show, the punishment handed out does not appear to be stopping offences. That must change.

"In my view, it's simple - when someone attacks an emergency service worker, and unless they are detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act, nothing less than a custodial sentence will do."

He said he would write to the court at the time of sentencing for anyone convicted of assaulting a police officer, PCSO, paramedic, firefighter or transport police officer in North Yorkshire to make that case.

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