Police Act 1996, s 89(1)

Assault constable in execution of duty

The statutory wording, points to prove, defences and penalty — verified against legislation.gov.uk (current revised versions, July 2026).

What the law says

Any person who assaults a constable in the execution of his duty, or a person assisting a constable in the execution of his duty, shall be guilty of an offence.

CJS codes
Official CJS offence index (March 2026)
—Charged under the specific underlying offence code.

Points to prove

  • 1. assaulted a constable or person assisting a constable
  • 2. in execution of their duty

Defences

  • No specific standalone defence was extracted from the source text; consider any applicable statutory defence, reasonable excuse, lawful authority, self-defence, necessity, consent, identification challenge, or other common-law defence on the facts.

Mode of trial & maximum penalty

Summary — Summary: 6 months' imprisonment and/or a fine

Reference only — verify against current legislation and force policy before charge. Spotted an error? Tell us.

Sources

  • Verified dataset — legislation.gov.uk (current revised versions)

This card, offline, in two taps

Section puts 1,200+ offences with verified points to prove, penalties and CJS codes in your pocket — built for on-shift lookup, free.

Join the waitlist