A COURT heard last week how a police constable feared for his life when tackling an aggressive drunk, encouraged by two other men leaving a pub late at night.

The officer was attempting to detain a man, who had threatened staff and damaged fittings after being refused service at the Hat and Feathers, in Seaham.

In the struggle the officer was punched and suffered a broken nose, several damaged teeth, a trapped nerve and in the neck plus other injuries.

He eventually managed to restrain his attacker with the partial use of his incapacitant spray and Taser device, before the arrest was completed when other officers arrived at the scene.

The injured officer was off work for several weeks and is now receiving treatment at a police rehabilitation centre, but is debating whether or not he can return to front line duties.

In his impact statement, read at Durham Crown Court, the officer said during the incident he felt his life was at risk, adding: “Due to single crewing policy I didn’t know how long my back up would take.”

Jailing defendant Mark Thomas for eight months, Judge Simon Hickey said the public would be “outraged” if he imposed anything other than a custodial sentence, for an attack on a lone policeman, “trying to do his public duty as a front line officer.”

Durham Police subsequently confirmed that single officer deployment has been the recent norm across the force area.

Chief Superintendent Helen McMillan said: “For some time the usual force policy has been for officers to be deployed singly, rather than double-crewed.

“This allows us to maximise our available resources and enables more incidents to be dealt with during a given shift.

“However, each call which comes in requiring police attendance is risk-assessed and should an incident require additional resources than of course they are deployed.

“Although assaults on officers remain relatively rare, the case highlights the risks they can face.

“It also illustrates the long-term effects a physical attack can have on a victim, whether they are a police officer or anyone else.”

But, Durham Police Federation described the assault as “unacceptable” and called for a clearer picture on the number of assaults on officers.

Chairman Andy Jackson said: “Police officers put themselves in harm’s way on a daily basis to keep the public safe and unfortunately risk injury as a result.

“The assault on our colleague is unacceptable.”

“It was a traumatic experience for him and he still carries the scars both physically and emotionally as a result of this incident.”

He said research by Hampshire Police Federation identified significant under-recording of attacks on their officers.

“As a Federation at both local and national level we wish to get the issue of officer assaults recognised.

“That would give a consistent picture of the dangers officers face across the country and ensure they are properly protected.

“Unfortunately, each force currently has its own way of recording the information which means national figures are haphazard.

“We have identified that the recording of assaults on police officers in Durham is inconsistent.

“As such the number of assaults sustained by officers is not clear.

“I am grateful that the force is engaging with us in this work so we can establish the true picture of the threat that our members are facing."

Mr Jackson described Government cuts to policing budgets over the last five years as "brutal".

“Our view is that you get less for less and that these cuts have consequences," he said.

“There are arguments for and against the single-crewing of police officers. If utilised appropriately it can certainly facilitate the best use of resources.

“Forces have a duty to ensure a dynamic risk assessment process is completed if and when an officer is single crewed.

“I believe that we need a constructive and open dialogue on this issue to establish whether there is a link between officer assaults and single-crewing coupled with the reduction in police officer numbers as a whole.

“Only then can we understand if there is a need for a change in thinking.”

* The defendant in the case, 27-year-old Mark Thomas, of Stockton Road, Seaham, pleaded ‘guilty’ to assault causing actual bodily harm and causing an affray, arising from the incident late on May 11.