By Steve Bargeton, political editor

THOUSANDS OF Scottish emergency workers are to be given the same special protection under the law currently given to the police.

Under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Bill published by the Scottish Executive yesterday, anyone assaulting or obstructing fire, ambulance, coastguard and lifeboat crews, all medical practitioners, nurses, midwives and prison officers while carrying out their duties will be liable to nine months in prison and £5000 fines.

Although the proposed legislation covers certain staff in hospital accident and emergency premises, it will not cover all NHS staff.

The Bill will also allow courts to hand down heavy sentences to people convicted of hindering or obstructing fire crews including those who make hoax calls.

Launching the Bill yesterday, public services minister Andy Kerr said, “Attacks on emergency workers are completely unacceptable, people working in emergency situations need to be able to go about their work without fear.

“The dedication of emergency workers saves countless lives in Scotland every year. Attacks on staff are putting those lives at risk.

“That is why we have brought forward legislation to protect emergency workers while they do their jobs. Our message is clear: attacks on emergency workers will not be tolerated.”

He said the proposed law was only part of a range of measures designed to protect public service and other workers from attack. More funding is to go into the increased use of CCTV and awareness and educational campaigns.

Lord Advocate Colin Boyd QC has already taken steps to re- inforce the protection of public service workers under common law.

He told MSPs last February that fiscals are now advised to treat the fact a person is assaulted while providing a service to the public as an aggravating factor when deciding whether to prosecute in the summary court or on indictment.

The SNP welcomed the Bill but called for protection to be extended to other NHS workers.

“The extension of the Emergency Workers Bill is very welcome as it will protect more people from fear of assault and obstruction in the workplace,” said health spokesman Shona Robison. “However, the next step should be to ensure all NHS staff are covered by the same level of protection and I hope the Executive will consider extending these proposals.

“Every Scot should have the right to a safe working environment without the fear of assault or attack and while it is vital that emergency workers, doctors and nurses have the same legal protection as police officers, there is no reason why other NHS workers should not be included. I hope the Executive will consider these proposals as the Bill goes through the Scottish Parliament.”

The Scottish Tories said the need for such a Bill was “a sad indictment of growing lawlessness in Scotland”.

“The Executive’s proposals mean that offenders attacking emergency workers in the course of their duty face being jailed for nine months and fined up to £5000,” said deputy justice spokesman Margaret Mitchell.

“However due to automatic early release, even if the maximum sentence was given, the offender would only serve 4.5 months.

“It is simply unacceptable that emergency workers in our public services are facing physical attack while doing their jobs. While this is a disgrace, it is a sad indictment of the growing lawlessness in Scotland.”