Assaults on emergency workers including spitting and coughing have increased in Hertfordshire, figures show.

Home Office figures revealed Hertfordshire Constabulary recorded 927 assaults on emergency workers in the year March 2021 to March 2022.

Most of the alleged victims were police constables – there were 623 assaults without injury on PCs last year and 237 with injury, while there were 67 on other emergency workers.

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The total number recorded last year was up from 771 in 2020-21, when assaults on emergency workers who are not police constables were recorded for the first time.

The Police Federation said the rise in assaults on emergency workers is appalling and must not be tolerated or seen as just part of the job.

Steve Hartshorn, national chairman of the organisation, added: “Crime levels rose once Covid restrictions were lifted and a split-second act of violence, whether an injury is sustained or not, often leaves devastating and long-term effects on police officers.

"The physical and mental scars of these assaults can last a lifetime and are unacceptable.

“Assaults on emergency workers are a stain on society and many of these assaults which are recorded without an injury would have been vile spitting and coughing attacks."

He said it is vital judges and magistrates make full use of the new law to ensure the sentence handed down reflects the seriousness and gravity of the crime.

Separate figures show that the proportion of offenders charged has fallen nationwide, from 68% to just 62% in 2021-22.

In Hertfordshire, 888 emergency worker assault investigations concluded last year, with 51% resulting in a charge or summons – down from 58% in 2020-21.

Across England and Wales, 44,600 emergency worker assaults were recorded in 2021-22 – a rise of 10% on the 40,400 the year before.

Since the Assaults on Emergency Workers Bill came into law in 2018, the maximum prison sentence for common assault on an emergency worker has been 12 months.

The offence applies to attacks on 'blue light' workers such as the police, paramedics and fire fighters, along with many others, including prison officers, NHS workers, and St John’s Ambulance volunteers.

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