Decorator assaulted cop after breaking into Washington home to carry out renovation work

In a bizarre crime at the Washington property, Lee McFarling, 36, hit a policewoman with a rail and called her and her colleague “clowns”.

Seconds earlier McFarling, who may have been drunk or on drugs, threatened to throw the police officer and her male colleague out of a window, a court heard.

During the strange Christmas Eve encounter, McFarling, of Dunstanburgh Close, Oxclose, Washington, also tossed a chair at them, narrowly missing.

Prosecutor Gurjot Kaur told South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court: “Officers attend after a report of an intruder.

“The man says that he has the keys and is carrying out renovation work.

“The officers leave but then receive information from the control room that he doesn’t have permission to be there.

“They return, and the defendant becomes agitated and screams at the officers.

“He tells them, ‘You are ******* clowns, I’ll throw you out the window’.

“He then picks up a folding chair and moves towards them. He throws it but it hits a door frame.

“The defendant then picks up a wooden kitchen rail and strikes her on the shoulder.

“[The woman police officer] did not receive a visible injury to her shoulder.”

Greg Flaxen, defending, said: “He breaks into the address and fixes it.

“One of the neighbours has reported to police that the property has been broken into before.

“He explains to the police that he’s doing the address up.

“The police speak to the owner who says that he’s not having the property done up.

“What happens next is a moot point – he asks to leave but is not allowed. He gets more agitated.

“He didn’t have a charge of burglary, the owner just wanted him out of the property.

“Drink and drugs were involved in the offence.”

McFarling, who pleaded guilty to assault by beating of an emergency worker, was sentenced to an 18-month community order.

It carries a requirement of 25 days of rehabilitation work with the Probation Service.

He was also fined £90, with a £90 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.

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