A Swindon woman said “white people can’t breathe too” when she was restrained on the floor after assaulting the police officer arresting her, a court heard.
Heavy-convicted Deborah Morris, 56, appeared before District Judge Joanna Dickens at Swindon Magistrates’ Court yesterday charged with several offences, including being drunk and disorderly in a public place, assaulting an emergency worker and using threatening and abusive words likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress.
Crown prosecutor Ben Worthington told the court police had been called to Nythe Play Park on 7 September last year following a report of a woman urinating in the children’s area.
PC Kirsty Delaney was first at the scene. She spoke to the couple who called the police about the matter before going to deal with the defendant, of Lytchett Way – just 100 metres from the pay area.
But on approaching Morris, she was seen to be intoxicated and uncooperative with the officer. She asked her if she’d urinated in the park, to which she responded “sorry for that”.
PC Delaney didn’t accept her apology and told her she was under arrest for being drunk and disorderly, to which Morris said “no I’m not” and tried to walk away. She was grabbed by the officer to stop her fleeing and was cautioned. The defendant replied: “I’ll be out tomorrow you f**king s**t” as she was handcuffed.
She’s then said to have repeatedly screamed at the officer “pepper spray me, pepper spray me”. The court heard how Morris was using abusive language in every phrase.
Due to saliva dripping from her mouth, she was told she will be put on the floor. Morris said: “Put me down you dirty f**king c**t” before lifting her knee and stamping down on the officer’s ankle.
She was taken to the floor and restrained before she shouted: “White people can’t breath too”.
The defendant was also charged with being drunk and disorderly at the Great Western Hospital on 30 July, whereby she was naked from the waist up telling staff to “f**k off”, along with many other obscenities. “It’s not ideal in the hospital”, Mr Worthington said.
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Morris is said to have 85 convictions for a large variety of offences.
Defending, Charlotte Frizzell said her client didn’t assault the officer on purpose, claiming it was as a result of the scuffle. But Morris did accept her behaviour was “absolutely disgusting”.
Adding that she is suffering from long-term alcoholism, which is a battle she continues to fight. She said the defendant rarely leaves her home because she is suffering from non-alcohol related health issues.
Admitting all the charges put before the court, Morris was bailed so a pre-sentence report can be compiled. The case was adjourned to 4 May.
“You can’t continue to go around behaving like this, it’s incredibly distressing and upsetting for other people”, District Judge Dickens commented.
