A police officer is “lucky to be alive” after a violent thug repeatedly kicked and punched him on the head.

The officer, who asked to remain anonymous, insists Josh Smith did not receive “proper punishment” for his actions, which left him unconscious and led to him having to take time off work.

Smith, 20, was convicted at Hamilton Sheriff Court of two counts of assault to injury and a further count of assault and received an 8pm to 7am curfew for six months, as well as an 18-month community payback order.

But the officer felt the sentence does not fit the seriousness of the crime.

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He told 1919 magazine: “During the height of Covid, people were getting custodial sentences for coughing at police officers, and I’ve had somebody who, to put it bluntly, was close enough to killing me and all he’s got is to stay at home.

“Where is the justice in it? Police officers go out every day and risk their lives because that’s what we do; we don’t know what we’re going into.”

The assault took place on April 11, 2021, when the officer and his colleague attended reports of a man with a knife at an address on Gala Crescent, Wishaw.

When they arrived, Smith was standing in a garden.

“We got out the car and told him to put his hands up and keep them where we could see them,” the PC said.

“He complied with that and as we took a couple of steps closer to him, he just jumped towards me.

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“The only thing I could do was grab hold of him. I fell onto the ground; he ended up on top of me.

“And then he just started punching and kicking me. I remember trying to keep a hold of him but push him off me, and then I remember hearing my colleague screaming and hearing the radio call for help going out.

“Then I remember feeling heavy, heavy blows to my head which was him either kicking or jumping on my head. I think that’s the point where I lost consciousness.”

Defence agent Matthew McGovern acknowledged the serious nature of the charges but pointed out that a criminal justice social work report on his client was positive.

Sheriff Liam Murphy told Smith that he was prepared to impose an alternative to a prison sentence.

There were 7,046 recorded assaults on police in Scotland in 2021/22, including officers and staff being punched, kicked and bitten while carrying out their duties.

While this was a decrease of 251 incidents compared to the previous year, it was 8.6 per cent higher than the five-year average.

A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “Assaults on police officers and staff are reprehensible and Scotland's prosecution service will take action to protect their safety.

“COPFS works closely with Police Scotland to ensure the effective investigation and prosecution of crime, properly addressing any criminal behaviour that threatens public safety and the safety of police officers.”