Custody Officer Punched As Weymouth Man Jailed

A custody officer was punched in the face by a Weymouth man who had just been jailed by Magistrates.

The incident happened in Weymouth Magistrates' Court, courtroom 2 late in the morning session on Friday, 2nd July 2021.

Shane Douglas Breccini, 40, of Charles Street, Weymouth, had just been jailed for 8 weeks by the town's Magistrates when he launched the unprovoked attack on the officer stood alongside him in the secure dock.

Breccini had been before the court for breaching the conditions of a community order, which had been imposed as a result of his earlier conviction for racially-aggravated threatening behaviour.

The court had decided to resentence Breccini after hearing that he had failed to keep telephone appointments with the Probation Service.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: "We received a report at around 12.15pm on Frida, 2nd July that a custody officer had been assaulted at Weymouth Magistrates' Court.

"It was reported that the victim had been punched to the head and suffered cuts and bruises.

"He was treated by the ambulance service.

"Officers attended and are continuing to carry out enquiries into the incident.

"A 40-year-old Weymouth man is assisting officers with their enquiries."

Serco is the Ministry of Justice contractor responsible for Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) in the South of England.

Chris Hodkinson, Serco's PECS contract director, said: "One of our officers was assaulted in court in an unprovoked attack and has gone to hospital to be checked.

"We take a great deal of care to look after our staff, they do a great job frequently under difficult circumstances and we take any assault on our employees extremely seriously.

"We are working to support the police in a potential prosecution."

Incidents like this are fortunately very rare. The officer in question was simply doing their job, in accordance with the law and as directed by the court.

I wish them a speedy and complete recovery and hope the incident doesn't have a long-term impact on their state of mind or desire to do the job.