WHILE it is their job to protect the public and save lives, emergency workers are worryingly becoming targets for vicious thugs.

From paramedics and policemen to firefighters and local community officers, there have been hundreds of incidents where their lives have been put at risk because of the actions of criminals.

Here are some of the North East people who have been in court so far this year in relation to assaults involving emergency workers. 

Alan Grey, 47, of Taylor Court, Carrville, was ordered to pay £500 compensation after assaulting two police officers at Lanchester Road Hospital, County Durham, in April last year.

For 18-year-old Phillip Quinn, the Blackhall Colliery teenager was ordered to pay £100 after admitting to assaulting a police officer in April last year. Quinn, of Seventh Street, received a 12-month conditional discharge.

Paul Longthorne’s actions were so severe, however, that he was jailed for five weeks. The 47-year-old, of Princess Street, Spennymoor, assaulted a police officer and damaged a police cell. He was also ordered to pay £100 compensation after pleading not guilty.

It was a racially aggravated assault, as well as a separate assault of a police officer, which saw Callum Talbot, 23, handed a community order. Talbot, from Embleton Street, Seaham, admitted the incidents at Southwick Police Station in August last year.

John Wilson, of Bourne Street, Peterlee, was fined £195 after assaulting a police officer at Horden while also damaging a police cell. The 34-year-old admitted the incidents in August last year at a hearing at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court.

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Two police officers were assaulted in Gilesgate, Durham, by Jonny Green, of Gillies Street, Byker, in 2020. The 33-year-old pleaded guilty to the charges at a hearing at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court in November 2021. Green was committed to prison for eight weeks, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay £400 compensation.

Asa Boardman, of Alliance Street, Darlington, was found guilty of assaulting a detention officer in the town in July last year. The 45-year-old was sentenced to eight weeks in prison after activating a suspended sentence provision.

A police officer was also assaulted in Newcastle on October 17 last year, with John Woodley, of Aintree Court, Darlington, admitting the offence. Woodley, 35, was fined £200 for the incident.

But Patricia Hewitt was jailed for eight weeks after magistrates said she had a “flagrant disregard for court orders”. The 37-year-old, of Ida Close, Newton Aycliffe, assaulted a security guard at University Hospital North Durham on December 27 last year.

Meanwhile, Ian Ord was committed to prison for 14 weeks after assaulting a police officer in Sunderland in September 2021. Magistrates described the offence as “an unprovoked attack of a serious nature”. Ord, 25, of Basingstoke Road, Peterlee, also paid £75 compensation.

Gareth Wilson, of Blackett Street, Bishop Auckland, was committed to prison for two weeks concurrent, suspended for 14 months. It came after the 35-year-old pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer in January this year at Durham. No compensation was ordered because the victim suffered no injuries.  

Liam Davies, of Granville Terrace, Wheatley Hill, spat into the mouth of a police officer at Cullumpton, Devon, in January this year. The 26-year-old was committed to prison for 26 weeks, suspended for 12 months at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court in April. Davies was ordered to pay £350 compensation.

41-year-old Ruth Taylor, of Luke Avenue, Cassop, assaulted a police officer in November last year. She was committed to prison for 12 weeks, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay £100 compensation.

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