A man who crashed on a bridge before using pepper spray on a police officer who tried to help him has been jailed. 

Ashley Flowerday was bleeding from a head injury after a crash on the Twenty Foot bridge near March when response officer, PC Zoe Pell, arrived to help. 

But when she asked Flowerday to sit down to provide first aid, he reached into his pocket, grabbed a black cannister and sprayed pepper towards her. 

PC Pell felt a burn on her arm as Flowerday ran away. 

A member of the public had alerted officers that Flowerday was in a nearby river, where he was found. 

Flowerday, of Church Road, Emneth, was taken to Peterborough City Hospital as officers found a crossbow, two wrapped packages of cocaine, grinders, weighing scales and a packet of pink pills in his car. 

Flowerday appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on October 31 where he was sentenced to 12 months in prison. 

He previously pleaded guilty to possessing a weapon for the discharge of a noxious liquid and assault by beating an emergency worker. 

“As a police officer I accept there is a level of risk each day I come into work; however, it is never acceptable or ‘part of the job’ for me to be assaulted,” said PC Pell. 

“Assaults on police officers don’t just affect the officer, but also their family and loved ones, their colleagues and ultimately the public we serve, while we all deal with the aftermath of such incidents.”