Police officer still traumatised by 'brutal attack'

21 hours ago

Ryan Davis had been serving in plain clothes on the night he was attacked

West Mercia Police A man in a black police uniform with a black police helmet in front of a large stone building and a police car which two people are looking inside — Ryan Davis had been serving in plain clothes on the night he was attacked

A police officer who was viciously beaten while trying to break up a fight says he is pleased to see his attackers jailed but that he continues to suffer from the ordeal.

Ryan Davies was left with a dislocated and broken ankle, a broken lower leg, multiple fractures and face lacerations, including damage to an eye, after being punched, kicked, stamped on and strangled.

"I have already been serving my sentence, having spent the past 21 months recovering from this cowardly and brutal attack," he said.

"This horrific attack changed who I am. I have struggled with PTSD ever since."

West Mercia Police said PC Davis had been working in Hereford city centre as part of a plainclothes operation, on Good Friday in 2024 when he stepped in to break up a fight.

Along with colleagues, he attempted to stop father and son Richard and Alex Quinn from Hereford from beating up another man.

The pair then turned on PC Davis and continued their assault after knocking him to the ground.

As a result of the attack, he has required multiple operations and months of therapy, and the force said he was "still recovering from the physical and mental health impact of his injuries to this day".

Richard Quinn (left) and his son Alex were both jailed on Friday

West Mercia Police Two images of males side-by-side. In the first is a man with short grey hair and a beard who is wearing a grey T-shirt. In the second is a young-looking man with short brown hair wearing a grey T-shirt. — Richard Quinn (left) and his son Alex were both jailed on Friday

Richard Quinn, 49, of Bridge Street in Hereford, was sentenced on Friday to four years and three months for assault causing grievous bodily harm on PC Davis and for the assault by beating on the member of the public.

Alex Quinn, 20, of the same address, was sentenced to three years and 10 months at a young offenders' institute for the same offences.

The pair had pleaded guilty to the charges at an earlier hearing.

Speaking after the sentences were passed, PC Davis said: "Their actions have put me through so much physical and mental pain, and I really don't recognise the person I was before it happened.

"It left me fearful to go out, and I have suffered recurrent flashbacks to the events of that night."

Ryan Davis needed a number of operations and months of therapy and is still recovering from the attack

West Mercia Police A black and white x-ray of a bone and a man with short brown hair with bruises around his eye. He is wearing a white patterned top. — Ryan Davis needed a number of operations and months of therapy and is still recovering from the attack

West Mercia Police said over the last 12 months there have been 141 incidents of their officers being injured in assaults.

That does not include incidents which did not result in an injury or assaults classified as an assault on an emergency worker.

West Mercia Chief Constable Richard Cooper said: "An attack on a police officer, or indeed, any other emergency service worker, is an attack on society."

He said the force continued to support PC Davis, and he had "been struck by the enormous personal impact it has had on him".

Lesley Williams, West Mercia Police Federation secretary, said her organisation did not feel the sentences reflected "the brutality of the attack and its long-lasting physical and psychological impact".

She said her federation would continue to call for the "toughest possible sentences for those who attack our members".

Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.