AN Essex Police Officer who had blood spat in his face during a \u2018disgusting\u2019 assault as he made an arrest has hit out at the leniency the courts showed to his attacker.<\/p>\n
PC Rhys Linge says his assailant, who was ordered to pay him \u00a350 in compensation, will \u2018feel like he\u2019s got away with it\u2019 and that he and his colleagues are feeling increasingly let down by the courts.<\/p>\n
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He\u2019s had to await hospital tests to see if the incident has left him infected with any infectious disease and he\u2019s been taking preventative medicines since the assault occurred.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was disgusting. It\u2019s one of the worst things that a human being can do to another human, especially the fact that it was in the face as well, and that it was full of blood,\u201d PC Linge said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a magistrate was spat at I\u2019m sure it would be a different outcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just wrong – all the work we put in to doing what we do. It\u2019s the fact that this man is out again and the fact that the money\u2019s such a low amount.\u201d<\/p>\n
PC Linge had been called out to assist colleagues who were dealing with reports of a man smashing up a property.<\/p>\n
The officers managed to get the man under control, and administered first aid to him, as he had sustained a face injury which was bleeding heavily.<\/p>\n
As he was read the details of why he was being arrested he screamed out and sprayed some blood into the air.<\/p>\n
PC Linge, who was 20 at the time of the attack, then asked him not to spit as blood was continuing to drip into his mouth from a nose injury.<\/p>\n
The suspect then began to struggle and as he was being led away from the police car he spat out at PC Linge showering his face, glasses and radio in bloody saliva.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went back to the station and my Inspector became aware of the incident and that spit and blood had gone into my mouth and over my face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to go up to hospital and have a blood test. I\u2019ve only just got the results back and they look like they are all clear. I\u2019ll send them up to occupational health, but the wait for the results which has been nearly two weeks has been quite traumatic, waiting to see whether I\u2019ve got what he might have got.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no deterrent, and obviously members of the public now are going to view that as well,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey feel that, and we feel that – the colleagues I\u2019ve spoken to feel the courts have let us down yet again, as they do quite often when it comes to assaults on officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will make me more aware the next time I have someone who potentially could spit,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut to be honest, because of what we do, you just have to knuckle down and get on with it and wait for the next harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf people are doing this to police officers then they should be going away for a period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Essex Police Federation Chairman Steve Taylor was furious with the court\u2019s sentencing, especially as it comes a week after the Emergency Services Workers (Offences) Bill, aimed at providing tougher sentences for assaults, gained Royal Assent.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor this individual to come before the bench, to plead guilty for this assault and to be on licence for the offence of having assaulted a police officer in the past and not to receive a custodial sentence, not to receive something far more meaningful than having to pay \u00a350 compensation, which is a paltry figure and probably won\u2019t be received by the officer anyway \u2013 is incredibly poor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAssaults like this resonate across the force, colleagues in PC Linge\u2019s position often say they can\u2019t pick up their kids or have a normal family life while they wait to see if they have caught anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe courts have let us down. Will this individual or others think twice before lashing out, before assaulting a police officer?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe courts had an option to send a clear message, but they chose not to, and they have let us down. I\u2019m left with zero confidence that this individual has learnt any sort of lesson that this behaviour us unacceptable,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe powers that be decided to leave spitting at emergency services workers out of the Bill, and we are working hard to ensure individuals like this can feel the full strength of the law to help send out the right deterrent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Essex Police Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh will also be writing to the Head of Local Magistrates about the leniency shown in this case.<\/p>\n
PC Linge said he was grateful to his colleagues for their support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Essex Police Federation have been fantastic, as have my colleagues,\u201d PC Linge added.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you get the feeling from the Government and from the courts that there isn\u2019t that support there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is just me and my colleagues fighting the world. That\u2019s how it feels. It\u2019s so disappointing. The courts are supposed to be there to finish off the second part of what we do, and they don\u2019t, more often than not.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man who spat at PC Linge has a previous conviction for assaulting an officer and alongside the \u00a350 compensation order for the assault on a constable he pleaded guilty to criminal damage at Colchester Magistrates Court.<\/p>\n
For that he was given a 12 Month Community Order and a Rehabilitation activity requirement for 40 days and Programme requirement for 29 days.<\/p>\n
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