By Charlotte Webster-
There is outrage in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, after a man who assaulted a police officer walked free on a suspended sentence.
The shocking ruling that saw Jonathan Beauchamp given a year’s custodial sentence suspended for two years calls for a review by the Attorney General , one which this publication will make, potentially alongside the Sussex Federation, who must be appalled with the decision to free a brutal attacker.
Beauchamp was also put on a five-month curfew and ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work and pay £2,000 in compensation, but that does not measure up to the damage he caused his victim.
Sergeant Alec Barrett suffered a broken eye socket and a broken nose when he was attacked after w attempting to protect members of the public by stopping a fight in Brighton last month when a man approached him from behind, taking a running punch at his face, punching him in the face again several times seriously injuring him.
The Sussex Police officer was taken to hospital, where he was told he had concussion, a broken eye socket, leading to bleeding in his sinuses, a broken nose and damage to his cheek.
This week, Jonathan Beauchamp was given a year’s custodial sentence suspended for two years. He was also put on a five-month curfew and ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work and pay £2,000 in compensation.
The shocking attack is just one in a series of assaults on emergency workers in Brighton and Hove.
The city has endured 155 assaults on emergency workers from March 2022 to March 2023.
Paramedics bore the brunt of these attacks, with 57 assaults, followed by firefighters (58) and other emergency workers, including police officers and social workers (40).
These assaults ranged from common assaults to ABH
Sergeant Raffaele Cioffi, deputy secretary of Sussex Police Federation, said: “This is a lenient sentence for a violent criminal whose cowardly attack on a defenceless police officer left him with serious injuries. Let’s not forget that Sgt Barrett was trying to protect members of the public and was violently attacked for doing so, he was lucky not to have been blinded.
“The Federation continues to call on the courts to do their bit and protect the protectors, custodial sentences are the strongest deterrent to stop these kinds of attacks – anything less does not protect us.
“Sadly, yet again, we see the courts going soft on violent crime; it’s an outrageous decision by the court and I fear officers will continue to be seriously injured until they take it seriously.”
Following the attack, Sgt Barrett said: “I was in a vulnerable position on the ground when the man sucker-punched me from a position that I didn’t see coming. When I regained full consciousness, I looked up to try to work out what had happened as I knew I was defenceless, he then punched me again a few more times in the face whilst standing over me.
“My face is horrendously swollen, initially located around my eye, but now it’s around my cheek and one side of my face. I’ve been assaulted before, but I now find myself apprehensive about going back to work, especially operational duty, where I might be in the same position again, it’s affected me and my family who now worry about me going to work.”
He added: “It’s been a reality check about the dangers of my job. I’ve had calls from people in the force with good wishes and the Federation have supported me, lots of people have been in touch, which is a really nice gesture, and it is really appreciated.”
There were 41,221 assaults on police officers in England and Wales last year – an annual national rise of more than 20 per cent. This equates to 793 assaults a week on police officers, or 113 assaults every day and more than four every hour.
Last year, 1,322 officers in Sussex were assaulted last year – that is more than 25 every single week or more than three a day, the Federation said.
Sgt Cioffi added: “The Government needs to take a strong stance against violent crime, we need to see action in the courts, not words. Until they do, violent criminals will continue to walk free as in this case, no real justice for victims.
“The Federation will continue to lobby the Government for a change in the sentencing guidelines for violent crime. I fear officers and members of the public will not be safe until this changes.
The publication will examine the precise reasons provided by the judge for issuing what appears to be a very lenient sentence for the particular offence since it is likely the judge took certain issues into consideration.
On the face of it, the punishment does not seem to match the offence.
Rulings like this can also raise questions about the competence level of some judges.