Police describe being kicked, punched and suffering broken bones

A police officer has described being punched, kicked and having her ankle broken during her first three years in the job, as figures show more than 100 officers a day are assaulted in England and Wales. PC Lauren Butcher, who needed weeks of specialist rehabilitation and counselling after one injury, says she welcomes plans to roll out a new type of Taser stun gun for protection. The Home Office state more than 40,000 assaults of police officers are assaulted each year. The government says any assault on an emergency worker is completely unacceptable. Butcher says her colleagues have experienced everything from verbal abuse, including homophobic and sexist comments, to broken bones and stabbings. "I've been sworn at, punched, kicked. These assaults seem to be increasing in their frequency." She told BBC South East she suffered a broken ankle and ligament damage following one assault, which needed treatment at Flint House Police Rehabilitation in Oxfordshire, a charity which supports injured officers. "It's difficult to this day to go out and do this job, because it's always lingering with you, the physical pain and mental memory that someone really hurt me." The Kent officer, who n