Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-04-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 2—Assaults on police constables (No. 2)— "In section 89(1) of the Police Act 1996, leave out from ‘offence’ to end of subsection (1) and insert— ‘and liable— (a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to a fine, or to both; (b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 24 months, or to a fine, or to both.’" This new clause would make assaults specifically on police constables carry greater penalties than are currently available to match the new offence and also to ensure that Crown courts have greater powers of sentence for the offence than magistrates’ courts. New clause 4—Assaults in prison— "In section 243A of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after subsection (2) insert— ‘(2A) Subsection (2) does not apply if the prisoner has assaulted any person listed in Section 3 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 during the course of their sentence.’" This new clause would mean that a prisoner serving a sentence of less than 12 months who assaulted an emergency worker during that sentence would not be eligible for automatic release. New clause 5—Assaults in prison (No. 2)— "In section 244 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after subsection (1A) insert— ‘(1B) Subsection (1) does not apply if the prisoner has assaulted any person listed in Section 3 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 during the course of their sentence.’" This new clause would mean that a prisoner serving a fixed term sentence of more than 12 months who assaulted an emergency worker during that sentence would not be eligible for automatic release. New clause 6—Assaults in prison (No. 3)— "In section 246 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after subsection (4)(i) insert— ‘(j) the prisoner has assaulted any person listed in Section 3 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 during the course of their sentence.’" This new clause would mean that a prisoner serving a fixed term sentence of more than 12 months who assaulted an emergency worker during that sentence would not be eligible for early release. New clause 8—Assaults in prison (No. 5)— "In section 247 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after subsection (2) insert— ‘(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if the prisoner has assaulted any person listed in section 3 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 during the course of their sentence.’" This new clause would mean that a prisoner serving an extended sentence under sections 227 and 228 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 who assaulted an emergency worker during that sentence would not be eligible for automatic release after the requisite period. New clause 9—Assaults in prison (No. 6)— "In section 243A of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after subsection (2) insert— ‘(2A) Subsection (2) does not apply if the prisoner has assaulted any person listed in section 3(d), (e) or (f) of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 during the course of their sentence.’" This new clause would mean that a prisoner serving a sentence of less than 12 months who assaulted a prison officer or anyone carrying out the same functions as a prison officer or a prison custody officer during that sentence would not be eligible for automatic release. New clause 10—Assaults in prison (No. 7)— "In section 244 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after subsection (1A) insert— ‘(1B) Subsection (1) does not apply if the prisoner has assaulted any person listed in section 3(d), (e) or (f) of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 during the course of their sentence.’" This new clause would mean that a prisoner serving a fixed term sentence of more than 12 months who assaulted a prison officer or anyone carrying out the same functions as a prison officer or a prison custody officer during that sentence would not be eligible for automatic release. New clause 11—Assaults in prison (No. 8)— "In section 246 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after subsection (4)(i) insert— ‘(j) the prisoner has assaulted any person listed in section 3(d), (e) or (f) of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 during the course of their sentence.’" This new clause would mean that a prisoner serving a fixed term sentence of more than 12 months who assaulted a prison officer or anyone carrying out the same functions as a prison officer or a prison custody officer during that sentence would not be eligible for early release. New clause 13—Assaults in prison (No. 10)— "In section 247 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after subsection (2) insert— ‘(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if the prisoner has assaulted any person listed in section 3(d), (e) or (f) of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 during the course of their sentence.’" This new clause would mean that a prisoner serving an extended sentence under sections 227 and 228 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 who assaulted a prison officer or anyone carrying out the same functions as a prison officer or a prison custody officer during that sentence would not be eligible for automatic release after the requisite period. New clause 14—Assaults in prison (No. 11)— "In section 243A of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after subsection (2) insert— ‘(2A) Subsection (2) does not apply if the prisoner has assaulted a prison officer during the course of their sentence.’" This new clause would mean that a prisoner serving a sentence of less than 12 months who assaulted a prison officer during that sentence would not be eligible for automatic release. New clause 15—Assaults in prison (No. 12)— "In section 244 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after subsection (1A) insert— ‘(1B) Subsection (1) does not apply if the prisoner has assaulted a prison officer during the course of their sentence.’" This new clause would mean that a prisoner serving a fixed term sentence of more than 12 months who assaulted a prison officer during that sentence would not be eligible for automatic release. New clause 16—Assaults in prison (No. 13)— "In section 246 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after subsection (4)(i) insert— ‘(j) the prisoner has assaulted a prison officer during the course of their sentence.’" This new clause would mean that a prisoner serving a fixed term sentence of more than 12 months who assaulted a prison officer during that sentence would not be eligible for early release. New clause 18—Assaults in prison (No. 15)— "In section 247 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after subsection (2) insert— ‘(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if the prisoner has assaulted a prison officer during the course of their sentence.’" This new clause would mean that a prisoner serving an extended sentence under sections 227 and 228 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 who assaulted a prison during that sentence would not be eligible for automatic release after the requisite period. Amendment 2, in clause 1, page 1, line 3, after "battery" insert "including spitting" This makes explicit that this section applies to incidents of assault or battery that are spitting. Amendment 9, page 1, line 10, leave out "12" and insert "24" This amendment would increase the sentence for the new offence from 12 to 24 months in Crown courts to allow for longer sentences and to ensure Crown courts have greater powers of sentence for the offence than magistrates’ courts. Amendment 3, in clause 2, page 2, line 39, at end insert— "(aa) an offence under section 3 (sexual assault) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003" This causes the fact that the victim was an emergency worker to be an aggravating factor in cases of sexual assault.