Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people received a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence for assault on a (i) police and (ii) prison officer in each year since 2007; and what the average custodial sentence for those offences was in each of those years.

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of offenders sentenced for offences relating to assaults on police officers and prison officers, from 2010 to 2023, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2023, using the following HO offence codes:

• 10423 - Assault on a constable
• 10504 - Assaulting a prisoner custody officer or custody officer
• 00873 - Assault or assault by beating of an emergency worker

The number of offenders sentenced for offences relating to assaults on police officers and prison officers, from 2007 to 2009, is provided in Table 1.

The assault of a police officer can be prosecuted under both ‘Assault on a constable’ and ‘Assault or assault by beating of an emergency worker’ offences since the enactment of Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.

The assault of a prison officer can be prosecuted under both ‘Assaulting a prisoner custody officer or custody officer’ and ‘Assault or assault by beating of an emergency worker’ offences since the enactment of Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.

However, whether the offences under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 relate to assaults specifically on police officers or prison officers is not held centrally in the Court Proceedings database. This information may be held on court records but to examine individual court records would incur disproportionate costs.

It should be noted that sentencing decisions in individual cases are for the independent judiciary.