tuart McCourt has been given only a community service sentence
Scottish Police Federation chairman Brian Docherty condemned the attack, assault happened on August 6 at 7.30pm on Saracen Street in Glasgow A thug launches a ferocious attack on two police officers – one a woman – in a busy street in broad daylight. A crowd quickly gathers around the horrifying scene. But instead of stepping in to help the two constables, some begin filming the attack on mobile phones.
In a sickening portrait of modern Scotland, onlookers jeer as the two helpless officers are beaten to the ground after an onslaught of blows.
Sickening: A man films on a mobile phone as thug Stuart McCourt attacks two police officers in Glasgow. McCourt escaped jail
Two men film as McCourt grapples with PCs Paula Lamont and Gordon Innes
Turning violent: McCourt delivers a kick to one officer as they try to handcuff him, attacking
Now, in a final insult, their brutal attacker Stuart McCourt has escaped a jail sentence and been given only a community service sentence.
Last night, Scottish Police Federation (SPF) chairman Brian Docherty condemned the attack – and the bystanders who filmed it – saying: ‘An attack on a police officer is an attack on broader society.
‘It is also an appalling indictment of our society that some people chose to stand with smartphones taking pictures, or making videos, laughing as they did so, when officers were being subjected to this appalling violence.’
A spokesman for the SPF said that it ‘had no hesitation in condemning the sentence because it is impossible to see what the mitigating factors might be’.
The assault happened on August 6 at 7.30pm on Saracen Street in Glasgow’s Possilpark, when PCs Paula Lamont and Gordon Innes investigated a strong smell of cannabis coming from a group of men standing outside a solicitor’s office and pub.
Online footage showed McCourt initially agreeing to be body-searched – but within seconds he launches a brutal assault on the pair, which sees all three on the ground as they attempt to restrain him.
McCourt punches PC Innes in the head as bystanders continue to watch the attack
McCourt lashes out, punching first PC Innes then raining blows and kicks on him and his female colleague who is knocked to the ground.
The two-minute clip shows the assault continuing as passers-by jeer and film the incident on their phones until back-up arrives and McCourt is taken away in a police van. McCourt, 24, was charged with resisting arrest and assaulting the two constables.
Another man, also 24, was charged with resisting arrest, fleeing from the officers and stealing handcuffs, while a 25-year-old man was charged with aiding the 24-year-old in the attempted escape.
These two men cannot be named for legal reasons.
At Glasgow Sheriff Court yesterday, McCourt was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and placed under supervision for 18 months.
He was also ordered to pay the officers £500 each in compensation.
But the maximum punishment for anyone who assaults an emergency worker is nine months in jail, a £5,000 fine – or both.
Police Scotland declined to comment on the incident or McCourt’s sentence.
Last night, Gordon Crossan, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said: ‘Whilst we don’t want members of the public to come to any harm, it’s always disappointing to see people standing by with smartphones rather than actually calling the police for more back-up.
‘We do rely on public spiritedness; it’s also disappointing when the punishments handed down by the courts don’t seem to fit the crime that has been committed.
‘The people who carry out these assaults forget the human factor – that the people they are attacking have families to go home to, who will be fearful every time they go to work in case it happens again.’
More officers arrive and McCourt is handcuffed and taken into custody
Tory MSP Alex Johnstone said: ‘The public would expect anyone who attacks a police officer to receive a stiffer punishment than this.
‘He’s a dangerous individual but clearly the courts thought otherwise.
‘To compound the horrible experience for the officers, much of this incident was filmed by passers-by too.’
Scottish Labour justice spokesman Claire Baker said: ‘Police officers put their personal safety on the line every single day – these scenes are absolutely shameful. People will be shocked that being found guilty of attacking police officers does not necessarily mean a jail sentence.’
Writing in today’s Mail, SPF general secretary Calum Steele says he had ‘no hesitation in condemning the sentence because it is impossible to see what the mitigating factors might be’.
He adds: ‘The least the police service can ask of the courts is that they punish those who do us harm.
‘The most we would ask of the public is that they help us when they can, rather than looking on – smartphones in hand – as officers are beaten in the street.’
Mr Steele said that filming an assault on a police officer while ‘sniggering, enjoying every second, is a different order of human behaviour that I for one cannot comprehend’.
Figures published last month showed an epidemic of violence among emergency workers, with police officers, paramedics and firefighters punched, threatened and spat on while trying to do their frontline jobs.
A staff survey across the three ‘blue light’ services found alcohol misuse was a contributory factor in half of the incidents to which 999 workers responded.
Nearly one in three workers – 30 per cent – said they had been subjected to physical abuse while attending an alcohol-related incident in the month before the survey.
More than two-thirds – 68 per cent – said they had experienced verbal abuse from drinkers, while 63 per cent said they had faced difficulties in securing urgent information because of victims or callers being drunk.
Whilst we don’t want members of the public to come to any harm, it’s always disappointing to see people standing by with smartphones rather than actually calling the police for more back-up
Gordon Crossan, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents
The three services are now campaigning for an end to such ‘unacceptable’ behaviour.
Commenting on that campaign last month, Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams said: ‘The demands being placed on the emergency services by people who are drunk are huge.
‘On many occasions, it delays police officers, firefighters and para-medics from getting to members of the public who do need our protection and help.’
Daren Mochrie, Scottish Ambulance Service director of service delivery, said: ‘Our staff should not have to fear for their own safety when treating patients, but alcohol is a key factor in most assaults.
‘However, at times they are verbally abused and have to put up with being pushed and spat on, as well as being kicked, punched and in some extreme cases assaulted with a variety of weapons.
‘Instances of this kind of behaviour would fall dramatically if people learned to drink responsibly.’
The Scottish Government has extended the Emergency Workers Act 2005 to give additional legal protection to those who often have to work in difficult or dangerous situations.
Under the Act, someone who attacks an emergency worker can face nine months in jail, a £5,000 fine or both – which ministers claim ‘sends out a strong message that violence against such workers will not go unpunished’.
