Police officers assaulted, yet couple’s pre-booked holiday comes first. The bucking trend that repeatedly fails to support officers.

As assaults on police officers continue to rise, a judge in Bournemouth chose to listen to two defendant’s mitigating circumstances that stated that imposing a curfew following their assault on police officers, would leave them unable to go on their holiday. For all police officers reading this-now is the time to sigh.

The assault by Alysha Shivji and Myah Georgina was reported in the Daily Echo who stated that the defendants pleaded guilty to assault by beating of an emergency service worker in Bournemouth. However, they had also booked a holiday to commence days after the hearing.

The report states that the judge did consider issuing a curfew, but chose to look at the financial loss it would have on the couple and instead imposed a 12 month community order.

Once again, courts demonstrate how abusing a police officer really means nothing in today’s society. I wonder if those working in the justice system, would expect police officers to put their life on the line and protect them, just as the justice system is there in theory to support police officers.

In 2022 there were over 41,000 assaults on police officers across England and Wales, an increase of 11%. In March this year, West Mercia police reported a weekend where 12 officers were assaulted doing their job. Their Federation secretary Pete Nightingale stated: “Some of these were spat at which is absolutely disgusting and comes with additional stress of potentially picking up contagious diseases.”

During the pandemic, there were record number of assaults on officers with over a 100 a day. This includes the horrendous incident where a 41 year old male pleaded guilty to spitting blood into a police officer’s eye in Coventry. During the Covid period, spitting at officers became a very sad trend that has continued. It was actually used as a form of weapon against police officers throughout that time.

Many officers have reported that they would rather by punched, then being spat upon. This just how bad things really are.

In March this year a Met Police Officer was seriously injured after being assaulted attending a call in Hackney by a male believed to have had mental health problems.

In July last year a Met Police Officer had boiling water thrown all over his face after assisting council staff in Southall evict a 47 year old man from his property. The officer has been left with horrendous facial burns and guess what? The suspect was sentenced to 26 weeks imprisonment, wait for it-suspended sentence.

In 2022, three Suffolk police officers were assaulted doing their job, but the case was thrown out due to a lack of available barristers.

The suspect had 161 previous convictions, including previous assaults on police officers. As there was a shortage of barristers, the judge refused the request to adjourn the case, but directed that a not guilty verdict should be recorded.

Society expects officers to be there when they need help, yet it does not reciprocate. The justice system repeatedly lets officers down and continues to do this everyday by not backing their hard work after investigations, and also not supporting them when they are assaulted.

It really is time the justice system steps up and supports officers. No officer goes to work to be assaulted.

Support Local Journalism
We at The Havering Daily appreciate your support of quality journalism. Your generous donation, no matter the size, allows us to continue bringing unbiased and informative news to the community. Your contribution helps us maintain our independence and allows us to continue providing high-quality journalism. Thank you for valuing the work we do and for supporting our mission

Thank you

Stay up to date with all of our latest updates and content by following us on our social media accounts!

We have created community pages where we will share our up-to-date stories happening in the area. Add the area closest to where you live.