Shocking images have been released, revealing the grim reality of frontline policing after a Lancashire officer suffered a severe head injury and brain bruising following an assault.

PC Ashley Aspinall was hospitalised for 11 days, with his colleagues fearing he might not survive. The injuries also forced Ashley to take a four-month break from work before he could resume his duties as a response officer in Blackpool.

Ashley and his team encountered his attacker, Ian Scott, while responding to an unrelated incident in Blackpool on April 7. At the time, Scott was being ejected from a bar and was verbally abusing staff as he tried to retrieve his phone.

As police officers entered the bar to recover his phone, Scott's behaviour escalated, becoming increasingly abusive. As the situation deteriorated, attempts were made to detain and arrest him. However, this confrontation resulted in Ashley lying on the pavement with Scott on top of him, reports the Manchester Evening News.

While Ashley lay on the ground bleeding from the back of his head, Scott continued to hurl verbal abuse, taunting and insulting the unconscious officer even as he received life-saving treatment.

Scott, of Cavendish Road, Bispham, was subsequently arrested and charged with a Section 18 assault and assaulting a police officer. He pleaded guilty to a Section 20 wounding of an emergency service worker and appeared at Preston Crown Court on July 30.

The 50 year old offender received a 24-month suspended sentence and was further ordered to adhere to a 120-day alcohol abstinence mandate, complete 15 days of Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, pay £1,500 in compensation, and perform 200 hours of unpaid work.

Since the harrowing incident, Ashley has embarked on a strenuous journey towards recovery, with the repercussions for his family and colleagues being profound and persistent.

In a heartfelt statement to the court, Ashley recounted: "I have suffered a significant emotional impact as a result of this incident. I remember my thoughts at the time where I was genuinely convinced that I was going to die and had mentally made peace with that.

"I thought about the good experiences I had had in life and gave up on myself in that moment. The only thing that kept me going was thinking about my daughter and seeing her again. I thought about taking her to the first day of school, her school prom and all the opportunities that were yet to come that I wanted to make it to. This was the only thing that kept me fighting and kept my mind off the sheer pain I was in.

"I can't stress enough how much I thought I was going to die in this moment and that this was the end for me.

"I recall the tones of the voices of the paramedics who were tending to me. The fear in their voices of the level of injury I had sustained was piercing. I didn't know what injuries I had at the time and therefore couldn't understand what had happened. The situation felt surreal, but hearing the paramedics speak about it made it feel real. The paramedics sounded scared and concerned. I recognised the paramedic's voice from working with her in the past, therefore hearing her panic I knew it was serious. They informed me at a later date that had this incident happened in the day, they would have called a heli-med due to my urgent need for medical attention.

"I recall trying to communicate with my colleagues whilst I was on the floor and my brain not functioning. I kept calling my colleagues by the wrong names whilst fully being aware of their names.

"Since the incident, I keep reliving it in my head trying to understand if there is anything I did that could have triggered this incident and I honestly believed that I didn't. I followed the police protocols and policies, including the five-step appeal, before making the decision to arrest the male. I don't believe any of my actions that day warranted this level of injury."

Chief Constable Sacha Hatchett has voiced her deep concern over the shocking attack on an officer that led to life-threatening injuries: "This is an alarming case in which a dedicated and committed police officer suffered life-threatening injuries as a result of being assaulted while on duty. Thankfully, Ash has made a good recovery, and that is in no small part to the quick-thinking actions of his colleagues. They are all a credit to Lancashire Constabulary."

She continued to stress the unacceptability of such violence, stating, "Assaults on our officers will never be acceptable. They are not and must never be seen as part of the job. As a society, we cannot normalise them." Highlighting the human side of the force, she added, "My officers are mums, dads, sons, daughters, aunties and uncles. They are not simply a uniform."

Expressing frustration at the growing trend of violence against emergency workers, Chief Constable Hatchett said, "We are seeing an ever-increasing rise in the number of assaults on emergency workers, and something has to change to deter the perpetrators from seeing this abhorrent behaviour as acceptable. I don't want the families of my officers sitting at home, wondering if their loved one is going to come home."

Regarding the inadequate punishment for the offender, Ian Scott, Chief Constable Hatchett was unequivocal: "Anyone who has seen the footage from the night or heard Ash's harrowing victim impact statement will understand why I am saddened at the sentence handed down to Ian Scott. When police officers are assaulted and the level of injury is of the serious nature caused in this case the offender should expect to receive an immediate custodial sentence."