Man jailed after officers injured by knife in Hemel Hempstead
Twenty-year-old Jack Watts was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment
A man has been jailed at Luton Crown Court after two police officers sustained knife injuries during an incident in Hemel Hempstead.
Twenty-year-old Jack Watts was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment, having pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article, section 20 GBH and assault occasioning actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing.
During the early hours of Tuesday 10 January, police received a call reporting that a woman could be heard screaming in the old town area.
Officers attended and located two women, one of whom appeared to be suffering from a medical episode.
While officers were providing assistance to the woman, they were approached by Watts who became aggressive and obstructive when they asked him to leave. He continued to obstruct the officers and was subsequently detained.
A struggle then ensued, during which two officers were injured by an unsheathed knife which was protruding from Watts’ jacket pocket.
One officer sustained a wound to his forearm, while the second was left with slashes to his fingers.
Watts, of Rucklers Lane in Kings Langley, was taken into custody before being charged and remanded. He pleaded guilty to all three charges at Hatfield Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 11 January. He was also ordered to pay £200 in compensation.
Detective Sergeant Yolanda Morales-Willis, from the Dacorum Local Crime Unit, said: “This was a very distressing incident for the officers involved, who were simply trying to assist a woman who needed their help.
“Thankfully they weren’t seriously injured, but this is just one example of how officers put themselves in harms way every single day to help protect our local communities.
“I am pleased that Watts pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and will now be spending time behind bars.”