Leicester police officer opens up about fears after knife attack

A Leicestershire police officer says he fears he will be attacked again after being attacked with a knife.

PC Mohammed Ahmed, 39, suffered a facial wound while attending an incident in Beaumont Leys Lane, Leicester, on September 22.

Figures obtained by the BBC through a freedom of information request suggest 971 officers were assaulted in Leicestershire last year.

“I was lucky my injuries weren’t as bad as they could have been,” PC Ahmed said.

He added: “I always think this could happen again when a job comes up with mention of a knife.”

Earlier this month PC Ahmed, who was off duty for four weeks after the attack, was nominated for a police bravery award.

He said: “It was a normal Thursday night. I’m based downtown and a job came in with reports that a man was seen with a knife.

“First of all he attacked my colleague, then he went to attack me. He hit me with a knife in my hand and hit me right below my eye. I also got a broken nose.

“Only afterwards does the enormity hit you.

“We don’t go to work to be bullied, and it’s pretty much accepted that we’re going to be bullied by certain people.”

The FOI request obtained by the BBC shows that the number of attacks on officers in the county has tripled in five years.

Chief Constable Rob Nixon said the rise in attacks on officers was “a worrying trend”, but explained the rise could be partly down to the force getting better at recording incidents.

He added: “Any assault, any violence towards anyone who is an emergency service worker is totally unacceptable.

“It should never become socially acceptable. It should not become the norm.

“We will always pursue a prosecution of those who commit crimes against officers.

“We should never forget the courage and sacrifice we see every day from officers who go out and put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public and often don’t get the credit for it.”

PC Niamh Harriman, 25, has worked for Leicestershire Police for the past six years and was hit by a vehicle in January.

“The woman was sitting in the driver’s seat and was trying to put the keys in the ignition. He started the vehicle, put his foot in reverse and ran over my right leg,” PC Harriman said.

“The tire went over my right side. My colleagues saw this incident happening from a distance, I activated my emergency button and went to the hospital to be checked.”

Dakota Henton, 29, of Dodsworth Close, Leicester, pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting an emergency worker – PC Harriman and PC Toby Wilson – as well as failing to provide a specimen for analysis, dangerous driving and driving without a license.

Henton was sentenced to 52 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months.

“I had a sprained hip and then a lot of bruising on my right leg. I’m more afraid of going to incidents,” added PC Harriman.

“It’s the last thing you expect to happen, but it happens a lot in this line of work. I’m back at work after three weeks away.

“The more free time I had, the more eager I would be to get back.”