Police officers could have contracted life-changing illness after tackling abusive woman

Police officers who tackled a woman brandishing razor blades and scissors, face a three month wait to find out if they have contracted hepatitis C from her.

Officers from Charles Cross police station in Plymouth were called to the car park at the rear of the building, after a member of the public heard screaming.

Two officers who were first on the scene climbed to the top level of the car park and were confronted by a woman standing on the ledge, flicking her arms and sending sprays of blood from wounds she had sustained.

The woman screamed abuse at the officers as they approached and, after they grabbed her and threw the scissors to one side, one officer suffered a nick to his fingers.

When they realised she had a sharp implement, officers tried to force her fingers open while reinforcements tried to bandage her arm.

As they took her to nearby Derriford Hospital for treatment, the woman told the officers she suffered from hepatitis C.

Two officers who suffered minor cuts from the razor were tested and given a hepatitis B booster injection, while another who suffered a cut when he cleaned the woman’s blood from his arms was also tested.

Hepatitis C is a virus that can infect the liver and can cause serious and potentially life-threatening damage if left untreated.