WEST Mercia’s Police and Crime Commissioner has spoken out after a young thug who attacked a plain-clothed police officer in Hereford was released from prison after serving just 82 days of his three-years-and-10-months sentence.

Commissioner John Campion said: “It is utterly appalling that 20-year-old Alex Quinn has been released after subjecting PC Ryan Davis to a violent assault on Good Friday, 2024.

“This decision is a complete failure of justice – not just for the victim, but for every emergency worker who risks their life to protect the public.

“This outcome undermines the very principles our justice system is meant to uphold. Our overcrowded prisons are yet another warning of a system in crisis – one weakened by years of inaction from the previous Government and now a failure to act from the current Government.

“If Parliament invoke laws, they need to ensure we have a fit-for-purpose criminal justice system, else the sentiment to give greater protection to our emergency workers is just empty rhetoric.

“As Commissioner and chairman of the Local Criminal Justice Board, I will not stand by. I will continue to speak out against decisions like this because they send the wrong message to offenders and represent a deeply painful injustice to victims and to all those who put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe.”

Quinn and his father Richard were sentenced in February for jointly carrying out the violent attack on the police constable.

Richard Quinn, 49, was sentenced to four years and three months for causing grievous bodily harm to PC Davis and for the assault on a member of the public.

The attack left PC Davis 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.