60-day booze ban for Hetton woman who kicked police officer

A Hetton woman who kicked a policeman and his patrol car while drunk has been ordered to stay off alcohol for 60 days.

Megan Hutchinson, 35, must stay off alcohol until February on the orders of a court – and her progress will be monitored by a body-worn tag which can detect it.

The prohibition was imposed by magistrates who heard Hutchinson lashed out after calling officers to her supported living complex in Park View.

She claimed she had been the victim of a crime but became aggressive when they struggled to understand the details of her complaint on Thursday, October 5.

During the ensuing melee, she kicked the right-hand side of the Peugeot police vehicle and hoofed a lawman on a knee.

Hutchinson pleaded guilty during a previous hearing at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court to charges of assault by beating of an emergency worker and causing criminal damage.

She received the booze sanction – and an order to pay the officer £50 compensation – when she returned to the same court for sentencing.

Immediately afterwards, she told magistrates she wanted to stop her alcohol consumption - and must do so until Saturday, February 3, or risk further punishment.

Prosecutor Glenda Beck said: “Officers attended the property, and one spoke to staff working there. 

“The defendant came into the office and appeared to be heavily intoxicated. She was asked to wait outside so that she could be spoken to privately.

“She was not making a lot of sense. Officers attempted to get her back into the property, but she kicked the police car multiple times.

“While the officers were waiting for colleagues to arrive, she kicked one on his left knee, and she continued to kick out at him.”

Hutchinson has 19 previous convictions, including two common assaults, two of battery and two against emergency workers in April.

And in September, she was sentenced to a community order for another attack on an emergency worker.

Annalisa Moscardini, defending, said Hutchinson had several health problems and was autistic.

She added: “She has a lot of issues, and she lives in supported accommodation and needs support with basic life skills.

“She is vulnerable and has had an alcohol problem for some time. She had called the police about a theft that had occurred.

“When officers arrived, she has not made much sense and lashed out. She was not maliciously trying to injure, it was just how she dealt with it.”

Magistrates also revoked Hutchinson’s existing community order and replaced it with one of 18 months, with 30 rehabilitation days.