One major issue that blights the North East is attacks against emergency service personnel.
Police officers and medical staff are often subjected to disgusting abuse and even attacks by offenders who fail to understand the vital role they play. Fortunately, the people who do assault police and other emergency workers are often dealt with in the courts.
From a man who set a dog onto police officers, to a football lout, all kinds of offenders have been dealt with at Newcastle Crown Court and Durham Crown Court over the past months.
Here are a selection of North East offenders who’ve been dealt with for attacks against police:
Amar Akhtar
(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
Dad-of-six, Amar Akhtar narrowly avoided jail this month after he assaulted two police officers on two different occasions within four months. Akhtar got one constable in a headlock and kicked another while he was being arrested during different incidents at the same Newcastle house. On both occasions, the 42-year-old had turned up at his former family home in Benwell and refused to leave, prompting the police to be called.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that children were present in the house at the time and Akhtar had been under the influence of drugs. Just four months later, on December 29, police were again called to the same house after the dad had showed up and then refused to leave.
Akhtar was given a 26-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. District Judge Paul Currer said: “This was appalling behaviour and completely unnecessary. It’s committed in the context of you having a bad record of offending recently and that’s linked to your drug and alcohol use.”
Matthew Smith
(Image: Durham Constabulary)
Mathew Smith caused a “deep laceration” to a police officer’s face after hiding a key between his knuckles and hitting him. The 40-year-old lunged at the constable and attacked him when officers turned up to a home following reports of a domestic incident. The officer who was punched sustained a deep cut below his eye was lucky to have avoided being blinded.
Smith had to be Tasered and was eventually arrested by three officers following the attack. Before the incident, Smith had told them he hated the police “more than anyone on the planet”.
Sentencing him at Durham Crown Court, Judge Robert Adams said that the attack “could have blinded” the officer and jailed him for three years.
Nathaniel Wardle
(Image: Northumbria Police)
Nathaniel Wardle ordered an XL Bully dog to attack a police officer while being arrested. After getting the dog to use its teeth on the sergeant, Wardle then tried to bite officers himself. Newcastle Crown Court heard the police officer who was attacked by the dog suffered one bite to his arm, with others deflected by his padded jacket.
Wardle, 20, who has mental health issues after witnessing his dad being unlawfully killed, was given a suspended prison sentence. Judge Stephen Earl sentenced Wardle, of Lancaster Hill, Peterlee, County Durham, to two years suspended for two years with £300 compensation.
Nikita Carroll
Nikita Carroll was branded “animalistic” by a victim after she assaulted and abused 11 hospital workers and police officers in a series of offences. Carroll turned violent against nurses, hospital security staff and police officers, including spitting into the mouth of one female officer and into the eye of a colleague. She also racially abused two police officers.
Despite leaving 11 public servants either injured, traumatised, angry or confused, a judge decided prison was not the right place for her due to her mental health issues. Instead, Carroll was sentenced to a 12-month community order with a £10 fine and must pay £550 compensation – £50 to each of the 11 victims.
Thomas Allan
Thug Thomas Allan abused and attacked police officers who were trying to prevent disorder on a Sunderland v Newcastle derby day. Allan verbally abused one victim, calling him a “black ****” and threatened to follow him home before he kicked a female officer three times in the stomach. Newcastle Crown Court heard police had conducted a safety operation in Sunderland on January 6 this year, which was the day the city’s football team played Newcastle for the first time in eight years.
Allan, 38, of Hendon Valley Road, Sunderland, who has 91 convictions on his record and was out of prison on licence at the time, admitted racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress and assault on an emergency worker. Allan was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison and ordered to pay £200 compensation to both officers.
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View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/football-lout-animalistic-attacker-criminals-30464983
