A police chief has issued a warning that police will become “caretakers in the community for criminals”, as an officer sees thugs who left him unable to walk go free after less than three months in a young offender institution.
Brian Booth, deputy national chairman of the Police Federation, has said that crime will become rife with the lack of deterrents.
The federation represents over 145,000 officers, with the warnings coming after a man, sentenced for three years, only served three months for the attack on Officer Ryan Davis.
Mr Davis was attacked by a father and son, who punched, kicked, and stamped on him as well as strangling him until he was almost unconscious.
He suffered a broken leg, fractures, a dislocated ankle, and damage to his eye.
Alex Quinn, 20, was sentenced to three years and ten months in a young offenders' institute, but was released after just 82 days.
Mr Booth has now written to Justice Secretary David Lammy to warn of the "growing gap between the sentence handed down in court and the reality experienced by victims".
He said: “We will be caretakers in the community for criminals.
“How are we going to deal with a system where we have only the most dangerous people kept in prison, yet we allow some bloody dangerous people to remain on the streets with barely a rap across the wrists?
“It will embolden criminals – going soft on criminals does not keep people safe in my experience.
“We should be investing in prisons because when you take criminals off the streets, it does stop them causing harm and society is protected from them.”
Following the attack in 2024, PC Davis has been left in pain and is unable to return to frontline duties as a result of his injuries.
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He had been on a violence against women and girls patrol in Hereford when he saw Quinn and his father, Richard, attacking a man.
As he tried to stop the fight, the father and son turned on him.
Richard Quinn, 49, is still in prison after being sentenced to four years and three months behind bars in February.
Officer Davis told the Mail: “his horrific attack changed who I am. I have struggled ever since. The Quinns' actions put me through so much physical and mental pain.
“All I was trying to do was protect members of the public and prevent harm. Even now, I still have nightmares, and the chronic pain is a daily reminder.”
Mr Booth said that it was a “kick in the teeth” for officers that offenders were being freed so soon.
He added: “He left him to die in essence. This was an attack on a police officer so what might he be capable of doing to a member of the public?
“When a police officer almost gets killed, it just makes officers think, ‘What is the point in reporting it?’
“People won't report crimes because they will lose faith in police, in the whole criminal justice system... If you report someone and that burglar is put on tag in the community, then they go out and do it again, what is the consequence for them? More time on tag?
“Police officers will be dealing with more and more criminals in the community who should be in prison and we are not going to be able to keep an eye on everyone.
“We do not have the resources, these dangerous people are going to roam free and we will see confidence in police going down when crime is rife.”
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