'I thought I was going to die': Call for tougher sentences after horrific life-changing attack on West Mercia Police officer
There are calls for stronger sentences for those who attack police after a West Mercia officer suffered horrendous injuries in a vicious assault that left him thinking "I was going to die".
West Mercia Police Federation has issued the call after two men were sentenced for the shocking attack on West Mercia officer PC Ryan Davis.
Richard Quinn, 49, and his son Alex Quinn, 20, both of Bridge Street in Hereford, were jailed over the horrific incident.
PC Davis said the brutal assault on Good Friday, March 29, 2024, will "forever be the day that his life changed".
The 34-year-old officer told the police federation: "I thought I was going to die."
He was working as part of a plain clothes operation to protect women and girls that evening when he and colleagues intervened in a fight on Union Street where a member of the public was being assaulted.
A man was being beaten up by the father and son duo - who were found guilty of that offence in September 2024 – when PC Davis and his colleagues stepped in to help him.
Two officers were then injured by Richard Quinn’s wife (and Alex Quinn's mother) Carolynn Quinn, who was later convicted of two counts of assault of an emergency worker.
But Richard and Alex Quinn then went further with a cowardly and vicious assault on PC Davis which left him with a dislocated and broken ankle, broken lower leg, multiple fractures and face lacerations including damage to an eye.
Even when PC Davis was outnumbered and physically disabled by his broken bones, the Quinns continued their assault.
They punched, kicked, stamped on and strangled PC Davis as he lay defenceless on the ground while his colleagues were being assaulted by other members of the family.
The attack left him facing months of trauma during his physical and mental rehabilitation which included multiple operations as he rebuilt his body and his life following the attack.
He is still recovering from the physical and mental health impact of his injuries to this day.
Richard Quinn was sentenced to four years and three months in prison, while Alex Quinn was sentenced to three years and 10 months at a young offenders' institute.
Speaking after the sentences were confirmed PC Davis said: “While I am pleased that justice has been handed out, I have already been serving my sentence having spent the past 21 months recovering from this cowardly and brutal attack - and there is still more recovery time for me to get through as I slowly rebuild my life.
“This horrific attack changed who I am. I have struggled with PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] ever since. 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. I feel I have been left to suffer by perpetrators who have shown no remorse.
“Nobody should go out to work and expect to experience anything like this, but I would like to thank my colleagues and West Mercia Police and the federation for their help and support along the way.”
While he has returned to work, it has been in a desk-based role as he continues to recover. For a community-focused officer, that adjustment has been particularly difficult.
He said: “Being on a desk has been mentally draining. I want to be out helping people again, doing it to the best of my ability. I’m desperate to get back out on the front line again. To be honest, I don’t know if I have a future in policing if that’s not possible.”
The case has reignited calls from police representatives for tougher sentencing, with concerns that the penalties handed down do not always reflect the brutality of such attacks or their lasting consequences.
West Mercia Police Federation branch secretary Lesley Williams said assaults on officers must never be accepted as ‘part of the job’ and argued that stronger use of sentencing powers is needed to send a clear message that violence against police will not be tolerated.
Those concerns are echoed in the latest Police Covenant annual report, which sets out the Government’s commitment to ensuring that members of the police workforce ‘suffer no detriment’ as a result of their role.
But the report’s findings have also underscored the scale of the challenge facing officers.
Figures within the report show that approximately 115 police officers and staff across England and Wales are attacked every single day.
Ms Williams warned that the "unprecedented" level of violence should be treated as a national emergency.
She said officers are regularly going home injured, both physically and psychologically, and there are fears that continued exposure to violence is ‘becoming normalised’.
Federation leaders say that meaningful action is needed to demonstrate that the Government stands firmly behind officers, particularly when it comes to addressing the number of assaults and ensuring that courts use their full sentencing powers.
She said: “This is not just about statistics, policy or funding - it is about individuals who risk their safety to protect the public and the lasting consequences when they are attacked.
“The message is clear: violence against officers should never be accepted, excused or minimised, and those responsible must face consequences that reflect the true gravity of their actions.”
