Police officer’s powerful statement after attack left him fearing he was going to die

A police officer who was attacked by a drunk man thought he was going to die from a brain injury.

PC Ashley Aspinall was attacked by Ian Scott, 50, in Blackpool, Lancashire, on April 7 last year.

Ashley and one of his colleagues tried to arrest Scott who was kicked out of a bar but Ashley ended up unconscious on the pavement with Scott ‘on top of him’.

Scott abused him as he lay on the ground with blood pouring out of his head.

He had to spend 11 days in hospital and said it was only thoughts of his daughter that helped him through the difficult time.

Ashley had to spend four months off work before he could return to policing and he recalled the worried voices of paramedics who first treated him.

He said: ‘I recall the tones of the voices of the paramedics who were tending to me. The fear in their voices of the level of injury I had sustained was piercing.

‘I didn’t know what injuries I had at the time and therefore couldn’t understand what had happened.

Ashley was left with blood pouring from his head on the ground following the attack (Picture: Lancashire Constabulary/SWNS)

Ashley while he was recovering in hospital (Picture: Lancashire Constabulary/SWNS)

The injury Ashley sustained to his head (Picture: Lancashire Constabulary/SWNS)

‘I recognised the paramedic’s voice from working with her in the past, therefore hearing her panic I knew it was serious.

‘They informed me at a later date that had this incident happened in the day, they would have called a heli-med due to my urgent need for medical attention.

‘I recall trying to communicate with my colleagues whilst I was on the floor and my brain not functioning.

“I kept calling my colleagues by the wrong names whilst fully being aware of their names.’

Ashley added: ‘I have suffered a significant emotional impact as a result of this incident.

‘I remember my thoughts at the time where I was genuinely convinced that I was going to die and had mentally made peace with that.

‘I thought about the good experiences I had had in life and gave up on myself in that moment. 

‘The only thing that kept me going was thinking about my daughter and seeing her again.

‘I thought about taking her to the first day of school, her school prom and all the opportunities that were yet to come that I wanted to make it to.

‘This was the only thing that kept me fighting and kept my mind off the sheer pain I was in.’

He still doesn’t remember why the attack happened (Picture: Lancashire Constabulary/SWNS)

Ashley has since recovered from the assault (Picture: Lancashire Constabulary/SWNS)

Ashley said he still does not know what triggered the shocking assault.

He added: ‘Since the incident, I keep reliving it in my head trying to understand if there is anything I did that could have triggered this incident and I honestly believed that I didn’t.

‘I followed the police protocols and policies, including the five-step appeal, before making the decision to arrest the male.

‘I don’t believe any of my actions that day warranted this level of injury.’

Some of Ashley’s colleagues are still receiving support due to what they witnessed that evening.

Scott later pleaded guilty to a section 20 wounding of an emergency service worker.

He was given a 24-month suspended sentence when he appeared before Preston Crown Court on July 30 and order to pay £1,500 in compensation.

He was also told to complete a 120-day alcohol abstinence requirement, 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and undertake 200 hours of unpaid work.

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