999 crews are under attack on daily basis
SHOCK figures have revealed the sickening scale of violence faced by our emergency services.
It comes as a new law means people who attack police, firefighters or NHS staff could be jailed for twice as long.
The new offence, approved last week, will double the maximum sentence for assaulting an emergency worker from six to 12 months.
It will also enable judges to increase terms given to people convicted of a range of other crimes where the involvement of emergency services was an ‘aggravating factor’.
Labour MP Chris Bryant, who presented the Private Members’ Bill, said: “The growing tide of attacks on emergency workers, including ambulance workers, NHS staff, fire officers, prison officers and police, is a national scandal.
“All too often attackers get away with little more than a slap on the wrist.
“I hope this new law will help put a stop to that attitude.”
Figures obtained by the Observer’s data unit show emergency services workers in our region are being assaulted on a daily basis – and the number of attacks is increasing.
Latest figures show Greater Manchester Police officers were assaulted 340 times in 2017/18, with 97 of those resulting in injury.
This is the first year that the number of assaults on officers that lead to injury has been recorded, as previously these came under violence with injury.
It means that it is not possible to compare the total number of assaults on police officers with previous years.
But, we do know that the 243 assaults without injury in the last year is up from 187 in 2016/17, and is nearly double the 133 attacks recorded in 2007/08.
North West Ambulance Service staff were attacked 412 times in 2016/17.
That’s up from 389 the previous year and 371 in 2014/15.
And the number of attacks on firefighters in Greater Manchester has more than doubled in a year.
The latest figures show there were 61 assaults in 2016/17, compared to 28 the year before.
Verbal abuse made up the majority, but others were harassed and targeted with missiles, Home Office data shows.
And an average of one in six workers at Greater Manchester’s hospitals were attacked in the last year.
According to responses to the NHS staff survey, the highest percentage of staff being assaulted was at Bolton NHS Trust, where 16 per cent of staff reported attacks, while one in 10 workers at Central Manchester University Hospitals Trust said they had been assaulted in 2017.