A POLICE chief has praised new guidelines to help courts determine how to sentence those who assault an emergency workers.

The Sentencing Council guidelines will help courts in Wales and England to make a balanced assessment of the seriousness of the offence and impose a proportionate sentence.

It is the first time that judges and magistrates will have specific guidance for sentencing assault on emergency worker offences, which reflects legislation that increased the maximum sentence for common assault when the victim is an emergency worker.

The emergency services in Wales, where assaults on police, fire and ambulance crews have increased in recent years, welcomed the new guidelines which came into effect on Thursday.

Assistant chief constable Sacha Hatchett, of North Wales Police, said: “Every day our officers, staff and volunteers deal with very difficult and challenging situations putting themselves in harm’s way to uphold the law and protect the public.

“They must be able to carry out their duties as safely as possible.

“Being assaulted is not and should never be regarded as ‘part of the job’.

“It is wholly unacceptable for them to be threatened, attacked, verbally abused or spat at – and those responsible should face the full force of the law.

“These attacks have a lasting impact and we wholeheartedly welcome the new sentencing guidelines.”

More than 4,240 assaults were committed against emergency workers in Wales in the period April 2019 to November 2020, representing a monthly average increase from 202 in 2019 to 222 in 2020, or 10 per cent.

Assaults ranged from kicking, punching and head-butting to spitting and verbal abuse.

Under the Assault on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018, the definition of an emergency worker also extends to prison staff, search and rescue workers and NHS workers.

Mark Jones, Secretary and Treasurer, North Wales Police Federation said: “As a society we owe a massive debt to our emergency services who put themselves in harms way every single day to protect us all. To then go to work and be disgustingly attacked is simply deplorable.

"It is encouraging that maximum sentences are increasing for these offences but we now need to see the full sentencing powers of the Courts being used. A strong message needs sending that if you choose to attack an emergency service worker then you should expect to face time behind bars. Anything less would be an absolute insult to the brave men and women of our emergency services.

Dylan Parry, the Welsh Ambulance Service’s violence and aggression project officer, added: “A split-second act of violence can have a devastating and long-term impact on our staff, so we need to ensure that when an emergency worker is assaulted, justice is delivered for them.

“These new guidelines are a welcome addition and bring clarity and consistency when sentencing such offences.”

In 2018, the maximum sentence under the Assault on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act was doubled from six months to 12 months in prison, but criminals could soon face up to two years in prison under new laws.

Tony Dicken, district Crown prosecutor for CPS Cymru Wales, said: “These new guidelines formally require courts to apply an appropriate uplift to sentences for offences of assaulting an emergency worker.

“They also require sentencers to state in open court that the offence was aggravated by reason of the victim being an emergency worker and also to state what the sentence would have been without that element of aggravation.

“This means that it will be clear to defendants and the general public just how seriously the law views these offences.”