Hartlepool thug jailed just a day after attacking four police officers in one incident

Gareth Bennet Evans, of Hartlepool, reportedly hit one of the officers in the face with a metal pole and punched the other three in the head, face and body after they were called to his home address over the bank holiday weekend.

The incident took place at around 12.50am on Monday, August 31, with Evans locked up only a day later when he appeared before Teesside Magistrates’ Court.

Evans, 43, of Harcourt Street, off Duke Street, pleaded guilty to four counts of assaulting an emergency worker – three men and one woman – and was jailed for six weeks by the Middlesbrough court for each of the offences.

Cleveland Police have condemned all attacks on officers after revealing that they are investigating another assault allegedly committed only hours after Evans began his 24-week sentence.

In the latest incident, which occurred at around 8pm on September 1, an officer was said to have been punched in the face after the force were called to a disturbance at an address in Thornaby.

A Cleveland Police statement said: “Officers at the scene were confronted by a male behaving aggressively, who went on to punch an officer in the face.”

Chief Superintendent Thom Mcloughlin added: “We will by no means tolerate assaults on our officers and anyone who thinks it is acceptable to assault or injure a police officer will be dealt with by the courts.

“Our officers are human, they put on their uniform and go to work like anyone else but they put their lives on the line on a daily basis to protect others and yet some people think it is okay to attack them and injure them.

“We will use the legislation that is there to help protect our staff and we will not tolerate this type of behaviour towards our workforce.”

A 55-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault on an emergency worker in connection with the Thornaby incident and remains in custody.

Provisional figures released last week by the National Police Chiefs’ Council revealed that attacks on emergency workers had risen by just under a third during lockdown.

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