More than 150 assaults on emergency workers in Sussex

The number of assaults on emergency workers other than police officers has risen over the past three years, according to new figures.

Across Sussex, more than 150 assaults on non-police emergency workers have been recorded by police since 2020.

Police forces started to record a new category of crime – assaults without injury on emergency workers – in 2020.

And the latest Home Office crime figures show that Sussex Police have recorded 155 assaults against emergency workers from March 2020 to the end of last year.

Of these assaults, 57 took place last year and 58 in 2021, with the other 40 taking place from early 2020 onwards.

The offence applies to attacks on “blue light” workers – paramedics and firefighters – along with a number of others.

These include prison officers, NHS staff and St John’s Ambulance volunteers but the category does not include police officers who are covered by a different crime code.

The law is set out in the Assaults on Emergency Workers Act 2018. The law imposed a maximum prison sentence of one year for common assault on an emergency worker – a sentence that was doubled in 2022.

Over the past few years, 31 per cent of attacks on emergency workers that were reported to Sussex Police resulted in a charge.

Across England and Wales, 3,347 assaults on emergency workers were recorded in 2022, a slight rise on 3,342 the year before.

And since the crime was introduced, 34 per cent of recorded incidents have resulted in the offender being charged or summonsed.

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: “People become firefighters to serve their communities and help to keep people safe. It’s appalling that firefighters should face violent attacks while doing their job.

“This is not a new problem and, in the past, work has been done to address it. Unfortunately, sweeping cuts to the fire and rescue service since 2010 have meant the end of many youth and community engagement programmes which aimed to educate and include local communities in the work that firefighters do.”

Ambulance workers are also frequent victims of assault. The 2022 NHS staff survey found that 45 per cent of paramedics had experienced violence from patients or the public.