Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill — House of Lords, 2018-06-29
Topic: Law and Crime
Jonathan Toby Harris (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I too echo the thanks of the House to my noble friend Lady Donaghy for bringing forward this Bill and to my honourable friends Chris Bryant and Holly Lynch for their work on these measures in the House of Commons. I remind the House of my interests as co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Policing and Security; my chairmanship of the National Crime Agency’s Independent Reference Group; and my past close association with the Metropolitan Police service. Some 20 years ago, I was also a non-executive director of the London Ambulance Service This is a timely and important Bill. With, perhaps, one exception, it has had general support around the House. It is not another example of grade inflation in court sentences; it recognises that a gap in the law exists. That is what we want to see addressed. I recently looked at some citations of those who have been nominated for the police bravery awards which will be given out in a couple of weeks’ time. I will pick out two of them at random, because they spell out what we expect from our police officers. The first is about Sergeant Richard Pettican of South Yorkshire Police: "As he tried to apprehend a car theft suspect, he was repeatedly punched in the head. He fell to the ground and tried to grab the man, but a scuffle ensued and he was assaulted again. The man took the officer’s handcuffs and used them as a knuckle duster to repeatedly hit Sgt Pettican’s head while he tried to get up to detain the thug. Other officers arrived but not before Sgt Pettican had been repeatedly hit by the offender. Sgt Pettican received several deep cuts and bumps to his head and body which were swollen, with the cuts needing staples to close them" Another is Police Constable David Bull of Derbyshire Police. He spotted a man who was wanted for murder in a secluded alleyway, and gave chase: "Once caught, the man struggled violently— —perhaps not surprisingly— "and threw PC Bull’s radio to stop him requesting help. PC Bull was then assaulted, causing him to fall to the floor injuring his wrist and knee … PC Bull was determined to keep hold of the suspect. He realised that his only chance of getting help would be to pull the man into a garden and hope he could be heard. He managed this and fortunately someone came to his aid … recovering PC Bull’s radio so he could raise assistance" The significant point is that: "Despite his many injuries PC Bull returned for duty the following day, bandaged and bruised" Those are just two examples of exceptional police officers doing what we expect them to do: tackling violent criminals and trying to arrest them, doing what we expect them to do; running towards danger, and doing what we expect them to do Those were obviously higher-risk situations, but I am concerned that assaults against emergency workers are almost routine. Statistics from the Metropolitan Police show that last year there were some 2,000 physical injuries as a result of assault. That is about five per 1,000 police officers. Over 40 of those injuries were sufficiently significant to be reported to the Health and Safety Executive. The statistic which sums up why this legislation fills the gap between the more serious assaults and others which might not otherwise come before the courts is the 232 incidents last year when officers were spat at. These are, of course, only the incidents where the officers reported being spat at and it is recorded, rather than it being seen, alas, as all too routine I am not convinced that this is a new phenomenon, nor one that is necessarily rising. I was recently shown what purports to be—I am assured it is authentic—an 1829 recruitment leaflet for the Metropolitan Police, which states: "You must be aged 23 to 40 years of age … You will be paid 17 shillings per week …Your working hours will be eight, ten or twelve hour shifts, seven days a week. No rest days are allowed and only one week holiday per annum, unpaid" While I understand the pressure that police officers are under today, it is not quite of that order, although in some instances I am aware of extraordinary sacrifices. I was also interested in this statement: "Every encouragement will be given to grow beards, as shaving is regarded as unhealthy. However, beards must not exceed two inches in length" Apart from the age restriction, I might have qualified. The leaflet also says: "Uniform will be worn at all times to prevent accusations of spying on the public whilst in ordinary clothes" The sentence which struck my eye in the context of this debate was: "You must expect a hostile reception from all sections of the public and be prepared to be assaulted, stoned or stabbed in the course of your duties" We do not have the statistical evidence, so I am not sure whether this is a rising trend, a stable one or anything else. What has changed is, first, that we are more aware of what happens because it is slightly better recorded now than in was in 1829. Secondly, society’s attitudes to what is acceptable have begun to shift. The people who we rely on to provide care and support and to deal with emergencies are precisely the ones who we should have the highest duty of care towards. That is what the Bill is all about I can understand, if you like, the attitude that someone who is drunk and aggressive may have towards a police officer who is trying to spoil their fun. I am not condoning it or saying that is a reason, but you can at least understand it. What I find really surprising are the statistics that I have seen from the London Ambulance Service about the level of assaults on ambulance workers. There are about 3,000 front-line ambulance crews in London, but the level of assaults in the last year—2017-18—was 477. That is about one in six ambulance crew members being assaulted. Of those, 82 were spat at—that is one in 30. I look around your Lordships’ Chamber and there are more than 30 noble Lords in the Chamber this morning—not bad, incidentally, for a Friday morning. That is the ratio that people in ambulance crews—who are going to save lives, taking people to hospital—seem routinely to have to expect. I think that is very serious. We should not condone the fact that, of the 477 incidents recorded, 313 involved intoxication of the assailant from alcohol and/or drugs. The interesting figure is not so much the 313 who were intoxicated, but all the others who still thought it was appropriate to spit at the ambulance crews I think of those paramedics who arrived on London Bridge four minutes after the first emergency call, before the terrorists were shot dead by the police—who also arrived with remarkable speed and accuracy. I think about them putting their lives at risk for the safety of the public and then, in their normal duties, facing these sorts of things. That is why this Bill is important. We should value our emergency services and recognise that it is they who run towards danger. They do so on our behalf and we should express our appreciation for them.