A man is in custody after a police officer was severely bitten in Rochdale.
At around 18:40 hours yesterday evening, officers responded to reports that a male was causing a disturbance on Drake Street in Rochdale when one of the officers was bitten on the arm.
Before the assault, police tried to explain to the male that government rules meant that he was not supposed to be at any address other than his own.
But the male ignored the officer’s pleas and instead punched both of them. During the assault, the male bit one of the officers on the arm, causing her significant injury and pain.
The officer who was bitten was taken to a local hospital, but she has since been discharged in order to recover from her injuries at home.
A 29-year-old male was arrested at the scene for domestic assault, section 18 assault with intent to resist arrest and regulation 8 of the Health Protection Regulation 2020 (Coronavirus). He was also arrested for criminal damage.
At the time of publishing this article, the male remains in police custody.
Superintendent Richard Hunt, of GMP’s Rochdale district, said:
“No police officer should have to come to work – doing a job to serve and protect our communities – and be assaulted.
“It is absolutely disgusting that my officer was faced with this last night, and all of our thoughts are with her as she rests at home.
“I recognise that the pictures we are releasing today are quite graphic, but I hope they help people to understand the vicious nature of this attack and I know that the people of Greater Manchester will join me in wishing our officer a fast and peaceful recovery.
“This is a particularly challenging time for everybody at the moment, made worse by something so mindless like this.
“Having spoken to the officer earlier this morning, she said that last night’s incident was a stark contrast to the support she has felt over the past few days, while she has been delivering Easter eggs to local children while out on patrol.
“This just goes to show that thankfully, incidents like this are not a reflection of the vast majority of the public, who are showing great support to us.”
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