A POLICE officer is undergoing blood tests after his hand was punctured by a syringe during a struggle with an alleged thief.

The officer was detaining a man who was suspected of stealing an item from Boots in Biggin Street, Dover, when the incident happened.

The man was alleged to have been trying to inject himself with the syringe, said to be full of heroin. The officer tried to prevent him from doing this. In the ensuing struggle the syringe went into the officer’s hand.

The man was detained, and the officer, who has asked not to be named, went to Ashford's William Harvey Hospital for blood tests and treatment. He will have to undergo further tests in the next few weeks.

A 29-year-old Dover man has been charged with theft, assaulting an officer in the execution of his duty, and possession of heroin, a class A controlled drug. He was released on police bail to answer before Folkestone magistrates on Tuesday, October 21.