We call on the Government to urgently strengthen sentencing for violent assaults on police officers and emergency workers, especially when weapons are used.

In August 2025, a man in Rotherham was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months for stabbing a police officer. In another shocking case, a paramedic was attacked with a machete while responding to an emergency call. These sentences do not reflect the gravity of such life-threatening crimes against those who dedicate their lives to public safety.

There has been a huge increase in weapon attacks on emergency workers in recent years, with police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and NHS staff all reporting rising levels of knife and machete assaults while on duty. This trend demonstrates that current sentencing is failing to act as a sufficient deterrent.

The maximum sentence for assaulting an emergency worker was increased to two years’ imprisonment under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. The Sentencing Council last reviewed assault guidelines in May 2021, under the Conservative Government, with no scheduled future review date. Since then, the threat to frontline staff from weapon-based violence has escalated significantly.

We urge the Government to:

1. Instruct the Sentencing Council to urgently review its 2021 assault guidelines in light of the increase in weapon attacks.

2. Increase maximum penalties for weapon-based assaults on emergency workers to ensure sentences reflect the seriousness of these crimes.

3. Guarantee that assaults with knives, machetes, or other dangerous weapons against police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and NHS staff are treated as aggravated offences in law.

Emergency workers must have confidence that the justice system will protect them and that those who violently attack them face robust punishment. The public also needs assurance that such crimes carry sentences that act as a strong deterrent.