Drunken Hartlepool man 'kicked', 'elbowed' and 'spat towards' different police officers

Ashley Baldwin, 25, “kicked”, “elbowed” and “spat towards” the one male and two female officers during the incident in the early hours of August 1 last year.

Teesside Magistrates’ Court heard police attended an address in the town’s Pickering Grove over a disturbance between Baldwin and another person about a mobile phone.

The officers identified that Baldwin – who was already serving a suspended jail sentence following a previous conviction – had been drinking and searched him as it was was thought he might be carrying a weapon.

When no weapon was found, he asked whether if he was going to be detained and for his handcuffs to be taken off.

He was then arrested on suspicion of drunk and disorderly behaviour before attacking the officers.

Greg Flaxon, prosecuting, told the court that Baldwin kicked one officer, elbowed the second and grabbed the hands of the third before spitting towards her.

Mr Flaxon said: “There is absolutely no excuse for spitting on someone.”

But Neil Bennett, mitigating, said the spit was “reckless” and not “deliberate” and happened because Baldwin got sprayed in the face.

"You might say he reacted to the police arresting him in these unusual circumstances,” Mr Bennett said of his subsequent behaviour.

The court was told Baldwin has been accessing help for mental health and alcohol misuse issues.

Baldwin, of Spring Close, in Thornaby, pleaded guilty to three counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker and one count of drunk and disorderly behaviour.

He was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work as part of a community order and to access treatment for alcohol misuse for nine months.

No order for compensation was made.

Chairman of the bench Paul Hubbard said: “We are not going to activate the suspended sentence because we think it would be unjust.

"We believe there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.”

He added: “I would like to reinforce that you are still subject to a suspended sentence so that still hangs over you.”