As part of our overall plan to encourage people to enjoy the festive season safely, Wiltshire Police is running a campaign to raise awareness of how a night out can so easily lead to a fight, and potentially the loss of life.
Our “One Punch Can Kill” campaign, launching Friday 16 December, will be running until the New Year and is a stark reminder to the public how easily a lapse in judgement on a night out can tragically end with fatal consequences. A person could unintentionally become a killer, or be killed in a split second.
This can cause untold distress not only for the victim’s family, but that of the “killer” as well as ruining the lives of both the victim and the person who throws the punch.
In recent years, Wiltshire Police has dealt with a number of incidents where the victim has been punched once, fallen to the ground and been left with life changing injuries or worse still resulted in a fatality.
What often starts out as a fun night drinking with friends can easily turn into the worst night of your life.
DCI Jeremy Carter, head of the Wiltshire hub of the Brunel Major Crime Investigation Team said: “Alcohol plays a part in many of the night time economy incidents police deal with. Any one of these could so easily culminate in an assault, and ultimately a life changing event or worse still a life being tragically lost and the associated devastating consequences which inevitably follow.
Fortunately Wiltshire is a very safe county to live and to socialise in, but events of this kind can arise out of what often seem to be trivial events.
We would like everyone to enjoy the festive period but would implore people to do so responsibly.”
If you see trouble brewing: Stop! Think! Walk Away! In an emergency call 999.
