A West Cumbrian man, who grabbed a female PC by the neck as attempts were made to arrest him, has been sent to rehab.
Christopher Macauley, 35, was described as being agitated and highly intoxicated, shouting and swearing on a street in Parton, near Whitehaven, just before 10pm on August 26.
Macaulay was seen to put something into his mouth which he said was an antidepressant. He was told handcuffs would be applied.
“He then grabbed the PC, a female officer, by the scruff of the neck on the right hand side,” prosecutor Gerard Rogerson told Carlisle Crown Court. “She describes feeling shocked and taken aback by what happened.”
The officer, whose injuries involved scratch marks, had later said: “I felt his grip get stronger and struggled to free myself. I shouted at Mr Macaulay to get off my neck in clear, concise, language.”
Macaulay did let go and was arrested. He was said to have 29 previous offences on his criminal record. He had since been sentenced by magistrates for assaulting a different police officer the day before his neck-grab attack, on August 25, by punching a male PC with a clenched fist.
Macaulay, of Seven Acres, Parton, admitted assaulting the female PC when he appeared at the crown court today.
Sean Harkin, giving mitigation, said the defendant had been suffering from a deterioration in his mental health at the time, and been sectioned for several weeks. However, he now felt he was benefiting from probation service input as he sought to put offending behind him.
Recorder Paul Hodgkinson suspended a two-month jail term for 12 months and imposed 30 days of additional rehabilitation.
“I’m pleased to see you appear to be engaging well with the probation service and you are getting the help that you need,” said Recorder Hodgkinson. “The difficulty I have is that this keeps happening and it has to stop.
“The reality is the people you are assaulting are those that deserve protecting in the community. They are there most of the time, in fact, to help you so you have to change the way that you think and the way you are thinking.”
