A DISGUSTED police officer who had blood spat in his face while making an arrest has lashed out at the leniency shown to his attacker.

PC Rhys Linge says he feels the courts have let officers down “once again” following the shocking assault, which took place in Clacton.

The officer had to await hospital tests to see if the spit left him infected with any disease after the incident.

PC Linge had been called out to assist colleagues, who were dealing with reports of a man smashing up a property.

Thug Alexander Fleck, 22, from Agate Road, Clacton, was brought under control and officers administered first aid, with the suspect bleeding heavily from his face.

As Fleck was being led away from the police car, he spat at PC Linge, showering his face, glasses and radio in bloody saliva.

“It was disgusting - it is one of the worst things a human being can to do another human, especially the fact it was in the face and it was full of blood,” said the stricken officer.

Despite the attack and a previous conviction for assaulting a police officer, Fleck escaped Colchester Magistrates Court without a prison sentence.

He must pay £50 in compensation and complete a 12 month community order, alongside a 40 day rehabilitation activity requirement.

“If a magistrate was spat at I’m sure it would be a different outcome,” said PC Linge.

“It’s just wrong – all the work we put in to doing what we do.

“It’s the fact that this man is out again and the fact that the money’s such a low amount.

“The colleagues I’ve spoken to feel the courts have let us down yet again, as they do quite often when it comes to assaults on officers.

“It will make me more aware the next time I have someone who potentially could spit.

“But to be honest, because of what we do, you just have to knuckle down and get on with it and wait for the next harm.

“If people are doing this to police officers then they should be going away for a period of time.”

PC Linge unleashed a stinging attack on the court’s leniency.

“It is just me and my colleagues fighting the world,” he said.

“That’s how it feels.

“The courts are supposed to be there to finish off the second part of what we do.

“And they don’t, more often than not.”

Fleck admitted causing criminal damage and assaulting a police officer before magistrates in September.

In March, the thug was sentenced to six months in jail after slashing a police officer in the face with garden shears during a mass brawl.

He was still on licence for this offence when he attacked PC Linge.

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh, who is writing to the judiciary about the case, said it was “entirely reasonable” to question the leniency of the sentence.