JUDGING by the events of the past weekend, there are some people in Gloucestershire who think it is acceptable to assault police officers.

Over the weekend, four police officers were attacked after being called to an ‘out of hand’ house party in Stonehouse, and two PCs were assaulted in similar circumstances in Cirencester.

In Stonehouse, four adults were arrested after the attacks and have been released pending further investigation, while in Cirencester a 19-year-old man has since admitted headbutting a male PC and punching a female PC – but he was only given a suspended sentence, avoiding a spell in prison.

And that, in my view, is part of the problem: people are attacking police officers and not even being sent to prison.

What kind of message does that send out? No wonder people are not thinking twice before lashing out at the police when confronted for breaking the law, if they don’t have that fear of a guaranteed prison spell.

In my opinion, a deliberate attack on a police officer should mean a mandatory jail term.