Harsh reality of frontline policing in Lancashire
PC Ashley Aspinall's colleagues thought he was going to die
WARNING: Distressing image in article below.
Lancashire Police have released distressing images to highlight the challenges officers face at work or how quickly a night can take a turn for the worse.
PC Ashley Aspinall suffered a serious head injury, including bruising to the brain, when he was knocked to the ground by Ian Scott in Blackpool.
At one point his distraught colleagues thought Ashley might die at the scene. He ended up being in hospital for 11 days and it was a further four months before he was able to return to the job he loves – being a response officer in Blackpool. Even then he had to spend some time on restricted duties.
Ashley and his colleagues came across Scott while attending an unrelated incident in Blackpool on 7th April 2023.
He had been ejected from a bar on Chapel Street and was being abusive to door staff, trying to get back in to retrieve his mobile phone.
While Ashley’s colleagues went to retrieve the phone, Scott’s drunken behaviour deteriorated and he became increasingly verbally abusive. After numerous warnings, attempts were made to detain and arrest him.
It was during this interaction that Ashley ended up on the pavement, with Scott on top of him. As Ashley was losing consciousness with blood coming from the back of his head, Scott continued his volley of verbal abuse.
Then, as Ashley’s colleagues were giving him life-saving treatment, Scott was continuing to mock and abuse him.
It has been a long road to recovery for Ashley and the impact on his family and colleagues has been immense and ongoing. So much so that some of his colleagues continue to receive support.
Ashley gave a statement to the court:
“I have suffered a significant emotional impact as a result of this incident. I remember my thoughts at the time where I was genuinely convinced that I was going to die and had mentally made peace with that.
“I thought about the good experiences I had had in life and gave up on myself in that moment. The only thing that kept me going was thinking about my daughter and seeing her again. I thought about taking her to the first day of school, her school prom and all the opportunities that were yet to come that I wanted to make it to. This was the only thing that kept me fighting and kept my mind off the sheer pain I was in.
“I can’t stress enough how much I thought I was going to die in this moment and that this was the end for me.
“I recall the tones of the voices of the paramedics who were tending to me. The fear in their voices of the level of injury I had sustained was piercing. I didn’t know what injuries I had at the time and therefore couldn’t understand what had happened. The situation felt surreal, but hearing the paramedics speak about it made it feel real.
"The paramedics sounded scared and concerned. I recognised the paramedic’s voice from working with her in the past, therefore hearing her panic I knew it was serious. They informed me at a later date that had this incident happened in the day, they would have called a heli-med due to my urgent need for medical attention.
“I recall trying to communicate with my colleagues whilst I was on the floor and my brain not functioning. I kept calling my colleagues by the wrong names whilst fully being aware of their names.
“Since the incident, I keep reliving it in my head trying to understand if there is anything I did that could have triggered this incident and I honestly believed that I didn’t. I followed the police protocols and policies, including the five-step appeal, before making the decision to arrest the male. I don’t believe any of my actions that day warranted this level of injury.”
Scott, 50, of Cavendish Road, Bispham, was arrested and later charged with a Section 18 Assault and assaulting a police officer. He pleaded guilty to a Section 20 wounding of an emergency service worker.
He admitted those offences and appeared in the dock at Preston Crown Court last month (30th July) where he was given a 24-month suspended sentence. He was also ordered to complete a 120-day alcohol abstinence requirement, complete 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days, pay £1,500 compensation, and undertake 200 hours of unpaid work.
Our Chief Constable, Sacha Hatchett, said:
"This is an alarming case in which a dedicated and committed police officer suffered life-threatening injuries as a result of being assaulted while on duty.
“Thankfully, Ash has made a good recovery, and that is in no small part to the quick-thinking actions of his colleagues. They are all a credit to Lancashire Constabulary.
“Assaults on our officers will never be acceptable. They are not – and must never be seen as – part of the job. As a society, we cannot normalise them.
“My officers are mums, dads, sons, daughters, aunties and uncles. They are not simply a uniform.
“We are seeing an ever-increasing rise in the number of assaults on emergency workers, and something has to change to deter the perpetrators from seeing this abhorrent behaviour as acceptable.
“I don’t want the families of my officers sitting at home, wondering if their loved one is going to come home.
“Anyone who has seen the footage from the night or heard Ash’s harrowing victim impact statement will understand why I am saddened at the sentence handed down to Ian Scott.
“When police officers are assaulted – and the level of injury is of the serious nature caused in this case – the offender should expect to receive an immediate custodial sentence.”