Would you walk on by or risk being a have-a-go hero?

THE young mother taken into hospital in Merseyside had been glassed in the neck. After 48 hours, the intensive care team had to tell her husband and two young children that her life support would be switched off. She had jumped out of a car to intervene in a violent argument. A member of the public who rushes to intervene in a scuffle is at serious risk. Only a few have the fitness and skill to take it on. So Ken Marsh of the Metropolitan Police Federation is out of order when he decries a walk-on-by culture. A policeman who refuses to use a Taser because his training is not up-to-date is the real example of the walk-on-by generation. A member of the public who videos an incident is performing a valuable service by collecting evidence.

JAMES ANDERSON, Winchester, Hants.

I WOULDN’T hesitate to help police being attacked by thugs and can’t believe that some young, able-bodied men would do

nothing. The limit of their physical effort is to turn on their mobile phones. However, if a member of the public hurt someone while trying to prevent a crime, would a human rights lawyer act for the thug to sue them? The Government should ensure have-a-go heroes are protected from prosecution.

MICK TYLER, Forest Row, E. Sussex.

IF A police officer armed with a baton and a Taser can’t overpower an attacker, what chance does an untrained, unarmed member of the public have?

TERRY MILES, Ramsbottom, Gtr Manchester.

THE police are criticising members of the public for not stepping in to help. How many times have we been told to stay out of it? The police are paid to deal with this sort of thing. To intervene if the assailants are armed with blades would be extreme stupidity.

ANNIE WYNTER-CROFTS, Street, Somerset.

IT IS an outrage that not only were two police officers attacked by thugs, but the incident was uploaded on to social media as

if it were entertainment. I could not have stood by and watched this attack. Unless the public are prepared to help the police, we can’t complain about ‘Wild West Britain’. It is up to all of us to stand up to the thugs and criminals blighting the country. The community needs to back the police. We need more severe punishments for attacks on officers. After all, they are ordinary people with families who are trying to keep us safe.

Mrs EFROSYNI HOBBS, London SE9.

POLICE officers who complain that the public fail to back them in violent situations should use the powers given them by law. I am a former police inspector and so know it is a common-law offence to refuse to assist a constable when called upon. It is only necessary to show reasonable necessity and that when called upon, the person, without physical impossibility or reasonable excuse, failed to offer assistance.

MICHAEL HAFFERTY, Sunderland.