Daily Mail

SCENE TO SHAME BRITAIN

Crowds film as officers attacked... and just one person tries to help

- By Rebecca Camber and Jake Hurfurt

THIS is the sickening sight of two police officers being attacked as a jeering crowd gathered to film it.

Police have warned they are becoming ‘society’s punchbags’ as home secretary Priti Patel said she was shocked by the footage from hackney, east London.

thugs pinned the constable to the ground and punched and kicked him until a resident appeared brandishin­g a baseball bat to break it up. A female probation officer was also kicked as she tried to help.

Just moments earlier, the officers had been flagged down by a member of the public who reported an assault. When they confronted the victim’s alleged assailant, a fight broke out.

Yesterday the hero with the baseball bat told why he ran to their aid.

Kemran, who didn’t want to give his surname, said: ‘My aim was to not take any side but try to defuse the tension.’ the 23-year-old acted as a shield for the officer while he tried to reason with the youths.

three men aged 34, 32 and 20 and a boy aged 13 were arrested in associatio­n with the attack which caused the officers minor injuries.

Metropolit­an Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh said: ‘We are not society’s punchbags. We have families we want to go home to.’

there was a 27 per cent increase in assaults on officers over the last 12 months and in 2018/19 there were more than 30,000 attacks on officers in England and Wales – or 85 a day.

Mrs Patel tweeted: ‘ sickening, shocking and disgracefu­l. My thoughts are with the outstandin­g police officers who were subject to this disgusting violent attack.’

 ??  ?? Attack: An officer is pinned to the ground, punched and kicked as onlookers film the assault
Attack: An officer is pinned to the ground, punched and kicked as onlookers film the assault
 ??  ?? Mob rule: A female officer is also attacked as she tries to get the youths off her colleague
Help: Kemran with a baseball bat
Mob rule: A female officer is also attacked as she tries to get the youths off her colleague Help: Kemran with a baseball bat

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