A drunk went to punch a female police officer who was helping him in a dispute with his girlfriend in Chippenham, a court heard.
Kevin Hawkins, 36, stood before Swindon Magistrates’ Court this afternoon charged with assaulting an emergency worker just days before Christmas 2020.
Despite having meant to have been shielding, he arrived at the court stating he wanted to get proceedings ‘over and done with’.
Prosecutor Kate Prince said it was the Crown’s case that the defendant, of Hill Rise, Chippenham, was outside his girlfriend’s address on the evening of 19 December when officers were called to a disturbance.
It’s said it was the second time police had been called to the property that day, and on this occasion, his girlfriend asked him to leave but he refused.
Officers found him set on a low wall outside the address. They said he had appeared calm, but intoxicated, and told them he needed his insulin from inside the house before he could leave.
The officers planned to get his vital medication and facilitate his departure from the scene.
But the defendant’s partner emerged from the house shouting at Hawkins. PC Mccartney told him to move away as tensions rose, but he became increasingly aggressive.
He shouted: “I don’t f**king care about my diabetes, I don’t care if I f**king die”, before raising his right arm, making a fist and throwing a punch towards the female officer. To defend herself, she raised her arm and Hawkins’ arm connected with it.
PC Mccartney didn’t suffer any injuries are a result of the assault.
Defending, advocate Liz Highams said her client had been involved in a domestic argument prior to the police attending. He couldn’t leave the address as he needed his insulin, which he injects four times per day since suffering from pancreatitis due to alcoholism.
She added that Hawkins was looking after his partner – who had her children removed by social services due to alcoholism – each day. It was said she refuses to eat, drink or move, and he had been supporting her with daily tasks.
He’s become agitated when his partner has come out and started the argument again, Ms Highams added. Prior to that, he was fine with officers. He had explained why he couldn’t go and they were trying to help.
She told the court Hawkins had said to her: “I can’t believe how I’ve acted towards a police officer, it was completely out of character”.
Taking into account that the defendant has no previous convictions as an adult, chairman of the bench Dr David Whetham said they would “step outside of the guidelines”.
He imposed a 12-month conditional discharge on Hawkins, meaning he will only be prosecuted for the offence if he re-offends within one year – otherwise, the charge will ‘disappear’.
