Attacks on PSNI officers: Police say 17 officers assaulted within 24 hours across Northern Ireland

Seventeen police officers have been assaulted within the last 24 hours at incidents across Northern Ireland, according to the PSNI.

Four officers were assaulted on Saturday afternoon in Coalisland while attending to a man who had apparently collapsed on the street.

The 38-year-old man then headbutted one of the officers, while he punched, spat and kicked at the others.

When he was arrested, he continued to spit and lash out, damaging the inside of the police vehicle which was then unusable for a number of hours.

He was subsequently charged with a number of offences including assault on police, grievous bodily harm, criminal damage and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He is due to appear at Enniskillen Magistrates court on Monday.

Two of the injured officers required hospital treatment but returned to duty.

During the early hours of Sunday, five officers responded to report of domestic assault in Antrim were they were attacked by a man with a large piece of broken glass.

Three of the officers needed medical treatment as they suffered cuts and lacerations.

A 32-year-old man was arrested subsequently also caused damage to a police vehicle which had to be removed from service for the remainder of the night.

Meanwhile in Ballymena, three officers were punched in the face and head, and their uniform and equipment was damaged while they attended a reported assault on a man in Linenhall Street.

A 28-year-old man was arrested.

In Belfast, three officers were spat on and struck in the face by a man they were taking to hospital. The man has sustained injuries during an earlier consultation and was being taken for treatment by police when he attacked them. He was also arrested.

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 Sunday. He is due to appear at Belfast Magistrates on 3 November.

A police car was also damaged outside a Belfast hospital. During the same incident a 30-year-old woman was charged to court after assaulting an officer. She is expected to appear at Belfast Magistrates 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 PPS.Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said: “It is 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."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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