Shocking video of Blackpool officer who nearly died after assault outside Blackpool bar

Lancashire Police released the eye-opening video of the incident to illustrate the risks officers face on a daily basis, and how quickly a night can take a turn for the worse.

As a result of being knocked to the ground by a drunken assailant, PC Ashley Aspinall suffered a life-threatening head injury, including bruising to the brain.

At one point Ashley and his distraught colleagues feared he might die at the scene outside a bar in Chapel Street, Blackpool on April 7, 2023.

He ended up being in hospital for 11 days and it was a further four months before he was able to return to the job he loves – being a response officer in the resort. Even then he had to spend some time on restricted duties.

It has been a long road to recovery for Ashley and the impact on his family and colleagues has been immense and ongoing. So much so that some of his colleagues continue to receive support.

“I was convinced I was going to die”

PC Ashley said: “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.

“I recognised the paramedic’s voice from working with her in the past, therefore hearing her panic I knew it was serious.

“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.”

PC Ashley’s attacker spared jail

Ian Scott, 50, of Cavendish Road, Bispham, was arrested and later charged with a Section 18 Assault and assaulting a police officer. He pleaded guilty to a Section 20 wounding of an emergency service worker.

He admitted those offences and appeared in the dock at Preston Crown Court last month (July 30) where he was given a 24-month suspended sentence.

He was also ordered to complete a 120-day alcohol abstinence requirement, complete 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days, pay £1,500 compensation, and undertake 200 hours of unpaid work.

You can hear more from PC Ashley Aspinall on how the near fatal assault affected his life in our full report here.