A man who sliced a police officer’s hand with a razor blade has been sentenced to three years imprisonment.
Lewis Frost, 26, of Horton Road, Horton, appeared at Swindon Crown Court yesterday (26th August) after pleading guilty to ABH, two counts of assault on an emergency worker, failing to provide a specimen for analysis and breaching bail.
Frost also pleaded guilty to a robbery following an incident at Roundway Service Station in Devizes on December 21 during which he stole cash from the shop after threatening shop staff with a broken bottle.
On April 14 2020, a minibus carrying several members of Wiltshire Police control room staff was being driven between Wiltshire Police headquarters in Devizes to Gablecross police station in Swindon.
A second control room base had been set up in Swindon to enable staff carrying out the vital role of answering 999 and 101 calls to be able to socially distance as a result of the pandemic.
As the unmarked minibus was being driven along the A4361 Beckhampton Road towards Avebury shortly after 10 pm, Frost suddenly and without warning stepped into the road in front of the bus and signalled for it to stop.
Frost refused then refused to move out of the road, despite being encouraged to do so by the police staff.
Two of the members of staff, who are also members of Wiltshire Police’s Special Constabulary, got out of the vehicle in an attempt to assist the man and resolve the situation.
But as they were trying to deal with him, the male attempted to step into the path of another vehicle, before running towards a blind bend.
Concerned for the welfare of the male, several members of police staff chased after him. When they caught up with him, he kicked one of them in the face.
Urgent assistance was requested from response team officers who arrived on the scene within a few minutes.
When one of the uniformed officers tried to speak to Frost, he pulled out a razor blade and started to self-harm.
When officers tried to disarm Frost, he slashed at one of the officers, causing a deep laceration to his hand, which required several stitches.
Det Con Rachel Winter said:
“This was a nasty incident involving police officers and staff who did what they could to resolve the situation peacefully, however Frost had other ideas, and during the melee, he used a razor blade to cause a wound to a police officer who then required hospital treatment which meant he was unable to complete his shift.
“Frost also caused injury to a member of police staff who was on his way to start a shift at the time.
“This incident happened during the height of lockdown – like many people, these staff were getting used to new working arrangements in order to still maintain the same level of public service offered by our control room, but in a safe manner, and this incident no doubt caused unnecessary distress and upset.
“This kind of violence towards our staff and officers will simply not be tolerated and I am pleased with the custodial sentence given.”
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What is wrong with these judges, 3 years, should be 10. We need to protect our police officers and N.H.S. Workers with strong sentences.