§ Lord Hardy of Wathasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many police officers were assaulted whilst on duty last year; and in how many of the cases custodial sentences were awarded. [HL78]
§ Lord RookerRecorded crime data do not in general record the profession of victims. Assaults on police officers may be recorded as any of a range of offences in the violence against the person category. However, the specific offence of assault on a constable is recorded separately in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland. There were 27,152 such offences in England and Wales in the year ending September 2000, and 1,464 offences in Northern Ireland in the year ending March 2001. In Scotland, assaults on a constable are not counted separately from other assaults.
In England and Wales, 1,435 were offenders sentenced to immediate custody in 1999 for assault on a constable, where this was the principal offence prosecuted. Details of sentencing are not available for Scotland and Northern Ireland.