Police braced for bank holiday violence after Easter attacks

The body representing rank and file officers said “an unprecedented amount of violence” had seen 25 frontline police punched, assaulted and spat at over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

Ahead of two more May and Coronation long holiday weekends, Norfolk Police Federation warned officers could face a repeat of Easter which left officers “bruised, bleeding and worrying about their future health”.

Attacks on police have risen in Norfolk despite the introduction of longer jail sentences (Image: Newsquest)

“One officer got a load of phlegm into their mouth, which meant that they then had to go to hospital to have some blood tests because the person that did assault them had a number of markers around health conditions,” said chairman Andy Symonds.

In a worrying trend attacks on Norfolk officers have risen 20pc from 616 in 2021 to 778 last year, he said. 

“It’s going in the wrong direction. And what we need is the courts to step up and be counted, because that’s where some of the problems lie,” he added.

He called on magistrates and judges to impose maximum sentences saying although the penalty for assaulting an emergency worker was increased from 12 months to two years' imprisonment in 2020, this is not being used.

Norfolk Police Federation chair Andy Symonds (Image: Norfolk Police Federation)

Mr Symonds said: “When these people get found guilty at court, the sentences do not match the seriousness of the offence, so those people feel emboldened and will come back and decide that they’re going to continue assaulting my colleagues.

“Very rarely does someone get placed behind prison bars. They will be given suspended sentences, they will be given community orders, they will be asked to pay compensation, usually around £50-100. But again, the officer doesn’t want compensation. They just don’t want to be assaulted.”