A father attacked three police officers, including by grabbing a female officer’s crotch.
Chris Allen, 27, pleaded guilty to three counts of assaulting an emergency worker at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (1 February).
Prosecutor Kate Prince said Wiltshire police officers responded to reports of a disorder in Edencroft, Highworth, at around midnight on 10 May last year.
The defendant, of Ferndale Road, Swindon, was located in the street with no shirt on. He was described as “agitated and hostile”, clearly under the influence of drink or drugs.
As the officers attempted to calm him down, he began assaulting them. Allen grabbed the female PC’s arm and pulled away, causing her to scream out in pain.
In response, he shouted: “Shut your f***ing mouth you midget”, and claimed he had uncapped used needles in his possession.
The female PC, along with her colleagues PC Graw and PC Tape, attempted to detain the defendant following the assault.
But as they tried to detain him on the ground, he “grabbed PC [name redacted]’s crotch firmly”, Ms Prince said. PC Graw also sustained minor injuries during the arrest.
Allen spat in the face of PC Tape, with the spittle landing in his right eye. He went on to claim he had hepatitis C and as a result, the officer immediately attended the hospital for treatment – where medics washed out his eyes and carried out blood tests.
Clarifying to the court, Ms Prince said the defendant had grabbed the female PC whilst being arrested, face down on the floor and no sexual comment was made. Therefore, no sexual offence was committed.
In a victim personal statement, the female PC described Allen as “one of the most abusive people I have met in my 19-year career”.
Defending, Gordon Hotson said his client was “grabbing anything and anybody that was around” during his arrest and the assault was not sexually motivated.
“Mr Allen does not shy away from accepting the seriousness of what he did, he expresses his remorse through me to the courts today.”, he said.
Mr Hotson said his client was previous a Class A drug addict, however, he stopped using after a stint in rehab in January 2020.
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He added: “This is the first time he had consumed alcohol to excess in a long time, and he will not be repeating it.”
The court heard how Allen works as an ambulance engineer for a company in Stroud, is in a relationship with his child’s mother and takes on a “full role” in parenting.
“This is completely unacceptable, we cannot have people going around attacking police officers”, the chair of the bench said.
An 18-month community order was imposed, with 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days, 100 hours of unpaid work. He must also pay £200 to each of the injured officers, costs of £85 and a £95 surcharge.
