Assault is a criminal offence. Assaulting a police officer is deemed an ‘aggravated assault’ – and is treated more seriously by the courts.
Under section 89 of the Police Act 1996:
The key element to both offences is whether or not the police officer was executing his duties at the time of the alleged assault, and therefore acting lawfully at the time the alleged offence occurred. However, it will be important to establish whether or not the individual was acting in self-defence.
This is not defined by statute, however, the courts will take into account what was necessary for the police to do to protect life and limb, to keep the peace, to prevent crime and to detect crime.
At common law, a police officer is under a duty to keep the peace and prevent a breach of the peace. Wilful obstruction of a police officer is most likely to occur when the officer is exercising these common law powers. Wilful obstruction typically occurs during protests when police officers are attempting to prevent a breach of the peace, but protesters refuse to stop certain activities and obstruct police officers performing their duties.
The offence has three elements:
These elements are not defined by statute and it is for the courts to interpret their meaning.
Assaulting a police officer can happen at any time when a police officer comes into contact with the public and there is the potential for a police officer to be assaulted. This can often happen in demonstrations when they turn violent, or can happen when an officer is trying to arrest someone. Where, for example, someone resists arrests and punches the officer, this will be an assault.
To prove a charge of assaulting a police officer, the Crown must establish that an assault has taken place. The law states that an assault is committed when a person attacks another person by intentionally or recklessly causing another to apprehend the immediate infliction of unlawful force. Assault may also be a battery (when a person intentionally and recklessly applies unlawful force to another).
To satisfy both elements of the section 89 offence, it must also be established that the assault took place while the officer was exercising his duties.
If a police officer is assaulted at a time when he was not exercising his lawful duties, the offender may still be charged with common assault – which carries a lesser sentence.
On conviction of assaulting a police officer contrary to section 89 of the Police Act 1996, the defendant faces a sentence of up to 6 months’ imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £5,000.
On conviction of obstructing a police officer under section 89, the offender can be sentenced to up to 1 month in prison and/or a fine of £1000.
Nicola is a dual qualified journalist and non-practising solicitor. She is a legal journalist, editor and author with more than 20 years' experience writing about the law.
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