THE PSNI HAS revealed that 17 of its officers have been assaulted in several different incidents over the past 24 hours.
In one incident yesterday afternoon in Co Tyrone, four officers were assaulted in Coalisland when dealing with a man who was found “apparently collapsed on the street”.
A PSNI spokesperson said the man “lashed out at the responding officers, headbutting one and punching, spitting and kicking at others”.
The man was arrested but when placed inside a police vehicle, he continued to spit and last out, damaging the interior and making the vehicle unusable for a number of hours.
Two of the injured officers required hospital treatment but returned to duty.
He was subsequently charged with a number of offences including assault on police, grievous bodily harm, criminal damage and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The 38-year-old will appear at Enniskillen Magistrates court tomorrow morning.
In a separate incident shortly after midnight, five officers responding to a report of domestic assault in Antrim were injured when a man attacked them with a large piece of broken glass.
Three of the officers sustained cuts that required medical treatment.
A 32-year-old man who was arrested also caused damage to a PSNI vehicle, which had to be removed from service for the remainder of the night.
The arrested man remains in police custody at present.
In a different incident in Ballymena, three officers attending a reported assault in the Linenhall Street area were punched in the face and head, and had their uniform and equipment damaged.
A 28-year-old man was arrested and is currently in police custody.
A further three officers were also spat on and struck in the face in Belfast by a man they were taking to hospital.
A PSNI spokesperson said it’s understood the man had sustained injuries in an earlier altercation and was being taken for treatment by police when he attacked them.
He was arrested and remains in custody at present.
In a separate incident in Belfast, a 34-year-old man was charged with assaulting a police officer, criminal damage and disorderly behaviour after he was arrested following a disturbance in Union Street during the early hours of this morning.
He is due to appear in court on 3 November.
Elsewhere, a 30-year-old woman was charged to court after assaulting an officer outside a Belfast hospital and for causing criminal damage to a police car.
She is also expected to appear in court on 3 November.
A 29-year-old man also arrested at the same time on suspicion of assaulting police was released pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service.
Commenting on incidents over the past 24 hours, PSNI’s Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said “it’s appalling that any police officer should be subjected to violence whilst simply doing their job”.
“For seventeen individual officers to be subjected to violence, spat on, kicked and slashed in a single day beggars belief,” he added.
Todd continued: “Whilst we come to work knowing we could be faced with difficult and dangerous situations, it is completely unacceptable that officers should be physically attacked.
“These horrible incidents just show the often grim reality of what officers on the ground are facing each and every day as they work to help people and keep our communities safe.”
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