Northern Ireland

Female officer suffers double leg fracture after arrested woman 'jumped on her legs'

A female police officer suffered a double leg fracture in an attack at a Belfast police station
A female police officer suffered a double leg fracture in an attack at a Belfast police station A female police officer suffered a double leg fracture in an attack at a Belfast police station

A FEMALE police officer in Belfast suffered a double leg fracture after a woman in custody hit her with handcuffs and jumped up and down on her legs.

It is understood the attacker was being brought from a police car into Musgrave PSNI station in the city centre when she attacked the officer on Friday night.

The female officer suffered a broken ankle and a broken tibia in the assault.

It was initially thought that the officer had been attacked by a suspect arrested over rioting in the Sandy Row area of south Belfast on Friday night.

However, it was confirmed yesterday that the attacker had been arrested over a different matter.

Mark Lindsay, chairman of the Police Federation Northern Ireland, which represents rank and file officers, said it was an "opportunistic assault".

He said police have to "contend with violent individuals" every day.

"There are individuals out there who think it is fair game to attack police officers all the time," he said.

"Police do get injured, whether it be assaults in custody or assaults while making ordinary arrests."

He added: "A double leg break is at the top end (of injuries) and that could have career implications for that officer."

Mr Lindsay said police are trying to deal with "ever-increasing violence in society with fewer officers to deal with it".

"That presents its own risks," he said.

"The levels of back-up that we would have had simply aren't there."

In 2010, a female officer was knocked unconscious when part of a concrete block was dropped from the roof of a shop during rioting in Ardoyne, north Belfast, following the Twelfth of July demonstrations.

Mr Lindsay said almost 3,000 assaults on police were recorded last year.

"Assaults are happening daily," he said.