A STOKE St Gregory man has avoided jail despite attacking two emergency services workers a year after he was sent down for punching a woman PC in the face.

Robin Guest, 51, of Polkes Field, was handed a four-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months at Taunton Magistrates' Court after he admitted assaulting by beating an emergency worker. He was also ordered to pay his victim £50 compensation.

He admitted assaulting another emergency worker, for which he received a 12-week jail term suspended for 12 months. The sentences will run concurrently.

He also pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly, for which he received a £40 fine, and damaging a First Bus windscreen wiper, for which he was given no separate penalty.

Guest was previously jailed for 17 weeks last July for punching the woman police officer in the face as she arrested him after he ignored a dispersal notice to leave Glastonbury High Street, where he had been drinking in the street and behaving in an anti-social manner.

The case comes as emergency services from across the South West announce they are working together to highlight the unacceptable rise of violence and abuse towards their 999 emergency control hub staff, with the continuation of the #Unacceptable campaign.

With Easter being one of the busiest times of the year for emergency staff, the services are expecting a sharp increase in incident calls over the holiday period with many extra visitors to the region.

Police, ambulance, fire and healthcare staff are regularly subjected to attacks including serious injury, verbal abuse, spitting and biting, and even sexual assault from those they are trying to help.

A spokesman said: "It’s not just the frontline paramedic teams that face the violence, 999 control hub staff are finding that they are increasingly subjected to abuse when taking emergency calls.

"In some cases emergency call handlers have had abusive rants with death threats to them and their families, and these are innocent staff who are trying to get emergency care to patients."