The Chief Constable of Norfolk, Paul Sanford, has issued a warning that people should not attack his officers.

It comes after a court sentenced a woman for assaulting a police officer in Thetford.

Mr Sanford issued a statement saying that “police officers should not have to go to work in fear of assault”.

Emma Ryder, 42, of Mill Road, Colchester pleaded guilty after an officer arrested her.

Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court heard Ryder flailed around in the back of the car and kicked the officer in his stab vest, while handcuffed.

Mitigating for Ryder solicitor, Verity McEwan, told the court that her client was “deeply distraught after being separated from her children”. She said that the assault was not deliberate, but reckless.

Ms McEwan also said that Ryder had immediately and repeatedly apologised to the officer, and that her actions were out of character.

Recent government figures show that in the year ending March 2021, there were almost 37,000 attacks on police officers in the UK.

Ryder was originally charged with a £105 fine, but due to financial difficulty, her sentence has been reduced to a conditional discharge and a £22.50 victim surcharge.