There have been dozens of assaults on non-police emergency workers in North Wales since 2020, new figures show.

In 2020 police forces began to record a new category of crime - assaults without injury on emergency workers.

Latest Home Office crime figures show 66 assaults against emergency workers have been recorded by North Wales Police between March 2020 and the end of 2022.

Of these assaults, 18 took place in 2022, and 24 the year before, with the remainder taking place from early 2020 onwards.

The offence applies to attacks on 'blue light' workers, paramedics and fire fighters, along with many others, including prison officers, NHS workers, and St John’s Ambulance volunteers - but does not include police officers, who are covered by a different crime code.

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The 2018 Assaults on Emergency Workers Bill came into law, imposing a maximum prison sentence of one year for common assault on an emergency worker – a sentence that was doubled in 2022.

Over the past few years 40 of these crimes in North Wales resulted in a charge.

Across England and Wales, 3,347 assaults on emergency workers were recorded in 2022, a slight rise on 3,342 the year before.

Since the crime was introduced, 34 per cent of recorded incidents have resulted in the offender being charged or summonsed.

Anthony Jones, head of operations for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We will not tolerate abuse or attacks directed towards our staff members.

“Staff members delivering both the emergency response service and the community safety service are doing so to help and improve the communities which we serve and should not be subject to abuse of any nature whilst doing that. 

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"We have policies and procedures in place to protect our staff and working closely with colleagues in the Police we will, as needed, prosecute persons treating our staff in this way.

“We are thankful in North Wales that incidents of this nature affecting our staff are rare when considering the number of calls we attend each year.”

Ambulance workers are also frequent victims of assault – the 2022 NHS Staff Survey found 45 per cent of paramedics had experienced violence from patients or the general public.

In recent years, the Welsh Ambulance Service launched its own anti-violence campaign called #WithUsNotAgainstUs.

Jason Killens, chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “Our ambulance crews are there to help people, but they can’t fight for someone’s life if they’re fighting for theirs.

“Our crews might have no choice but to leave a scene if their personal safety is compromised, and this isn’t helpful for anyone, least of all the patient.

“A split-second act of violence can have a devastating and long-term impact on our staff, both physically and emotionally.

“The debt of gratitude we owe to our emergency workers has never been greater, so now more than ever, we’re asking the public to work with us, not against us.”