A drunk mother-of-five scratched the inside of a police officer’s mouth causing blood to drip down her cheek.
Sarah Brooks lashed out at police after they were called to a party in Sheerness in August 2023.
The 42-year-old pushed her body weight onto them before being put to the ground, where she then kicked out multiple times and hit one officer in the chest.
As they were trying to cuff her, a female officer tried to grab her arm.
As she did so, Brooks grabbed hold of her around the cheeks and put her fingers in her mouth. She scraped her nails inside, causing the officer to bleed.
She became aggressive with officers again on January 1, while she was still on bail. She spat at them and hit at least one in the face and another in the chest.
Brooks, of Medway Road in Sheerness, now has 13 convictions for attacks on emergency workers.
She admitted causing actual bodily harm and another count of assault on an emergency worker in August 2023. She had also been charged with other offences in relation to the incident, but was acquitted of those matters at trial in April.
She also admitted eight other offences in January this year in relation to the incident on New Year’s Day. They were three counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker, three counts of criminal damage, common assault on an emergency worker and one count of threatening behaviour.
She returned to hear her fate over all the matters at Medway Magistrates Court on July 1.
Terry Knox, prosecuting, told the court: “She started shouting at officers and said they were a waste and called one officer a c***. She continued shouting and swearing, so they began to arrest her.
“She kept moving her arms as they tried to put them behind her back.
“She pushed back and put her body weight on them and kept saying, ‘do it where it doesn’t hurt’.
“She was then put to the ground and landed on her front on a grass area and kicked out multiple times and hit one officer in the chest area.”
Magistrates then heard that as the officers were still trying to bring her under control, the female officer tried to grab her arm. This is when Brooks grabbed her cheeks and scratched her mouth.
Mr Knox added: “She then called the officer ‘a f****** s******’. The PC called for assistance on her radio saying she’d been assaulted and Brooks continued to shout and said, ‘we’ll see you little b******’ and ‘you little s***, silly little c***.”
The officer had to attend A&E to get her wounds tended to and was given a tetanus jab and painkillers. She was off for several days.
In her victim impact statement, she said she was upset and shocked at what had happened to her.
She also said the injury made her not fit for duty, as the painkillers she’d been given made her drowsy and that she also had trouble eating.
The prosecutor added: “The other officer could see his colleague had blood dripping from her face.
“In interview, Brooks said she had been pinned to the ground and the officers smashed her head on the floor. She was unsure how her hand got into the officer’s mouth and that she had just been in fight or flight mode.”
Magistrates also heard Brooks came to the attention of the police again on January 1 this year when they were called to her address at around 12.30am.
Mr Knox said: “She was standing in the front door and officers thought she was intoxicated.
“She told them to get the f*** away and asked what they were doing and to get away from her home. She was arrested for a public order offence.
“But when she was put in the cell in the police van, she spat at an officer and then spat on the vehicle’s windshield.”
Magistrates also heard that when she was taken to the police station, Brooks continued her aggressive and hostile behaviour by spitting at another female officer, which landed on her stab vest and was caught on body-worn camera.
Once she was in the cell, she started spitting on the cell door.
It was at this point that officers noticed she had a hairpin on her and they asked her to hand it over, but Brooks refused.
The prosecutor added: “They entered the cell to retrieve the hairpin and they had to restrain her. The hairpin was recovered, but she spat at a sergeant and called another officer a f***** and then spat at the peephole. She then spat in another officer’s face and it hit his nose and upper lip.”
The officer gave an impact statement he was anxious about the consequences of having someone else’s spit on him.
Magistrates also heard from a probation officer who interviewed Brooks who said the offences in 2023 happened after she’d been drinking a lot at the party and that she’d been upset as an ex-partner had tried to kill himself.
‘Thirteen assaults on an emergency workers? Shocking is an understatement…’
She also said the police had been called to the address as someone had taken money out of Brooks’ handbag to buy cocaine, but that she had felt she’d been treated quite badly by the police on that occasion, so said, Brooks had limited remorse over that incident.
She also said Brooks had five children and two grandchildren and had borderline personality disorder and depression. She also had a disabled child to look after.
The court also heard that Brooks’ fight or flight instinct took over during the incidents and her mental health was not good at the time and she had remorse for her actions. She felt she had to defend herself (against the force of the police) and that she’d stayed out of trouble for five years.
The Chairman of the bench said: “Ms Brooks, you have a shocking record. Thirteen assaults on an emergency workers? Shocking is an understatement and we feel the offences do pass the custody threshold, but can be suspended.
“If you come before the courts again in that time, you will probably go to prison. Spitting at police is just absolutely awful.”
As a result, they jailed Brooks for 120 days but suspended the term for a year for the attacks on emergency workers and threatening behaviour offences. She was also ordered to pay the female officer £100 compensation and the other officers £50 each.
She received no separate penalty for the criminal damage matters, but was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154 as well as £170 court costs. She will pay what she owes at a rate of £20 a month as she’s claiming benefits.
