Man bit and spat at police officers on Christmas work night out

A drunken reveller headbutted, bit and spat at police officers while on a Christmas work night out, a court was told.
Leeds Crown CourtLeeds Crown Court
Leeds Crown Court

Thomas Graham, 25, had been drinking heavily when officers tried to remove him from a bar in Wakefield city centre on December 17 last year.

Prosecutor Emily Hassell told Leeds Crown Court that two officers had visited the venue at around 11.20pm on an unrelated matter but came across Graham who was clearly intoxicated and unsteady on his feet.

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He had to be escorted from the premises but refused to go, holding onto railings outside the bar before being prised away.

He then sat on the pavement and began swearing at the officers, so he was arrested for being drunk and disorderly.

When they tried to lift him up, he spat in their direction and headbutted a female officer, causing swelling to her lower lip.

Once inside a police van, his behaviour became erratic.

Officers had to carry him into the station and when he was lifted to the custody desk, he bit the wrist of an officer, sinking his teeth into their skin.

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He was interviewed the next day and claimed he could not remember the incident, saying he was “11 out of 10” on a scale of drunkenness.

He admitted two assaults against emergency workers.

The court heard Graham, of South Parade, Cleckheaton, has a previous conviction for supplying drugs in 2019 and had breached court orders twice.

Mitigating, Gareth Henderson-Moore said: “He has not touched alcohol since and has no interest in touching alcohol.”

In a letter to the court, Graham said: “I have the utmost respect for the police. There is no excuse for the way I have acted.”

He was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended for 12 months.

He must completed 250 hours of unpaid work and pay £350 in compensation.