Man arrested in underwear spat at police officer after mix-up

Gareth Davies, 38, committed his vile attack when being placed into a caged police van, with some spittle landed on the officer’s arm, a court heard.

By that point, Davies, of Westheath Avenue, Grangetown, was “upset and annoyed”, having been handcuffed and led outside in his boxer shorts.

Davies and his wife had been out together to mark a special event, but matters spiralled when they got home on Sunday, September 8.

It stemmed from him hearing raised voices down the phone line as his daughter chatted to her boyfriend, magistrates in South Tyneside were told.

Believing she was being harassed, he bizarrely contacted police to report a domestic incident – and officers duly arrived to investigate.

But they got the wrong end of the stick and thought Davies was the culprit and ordered him to leave the property for the night.

When he said he had nowhere to go, he was informed he would have to spend the night in police cells – and was duly arrested.

Prosecutor Ruth Forster said: “The defendant was arrested for a breach of the peace following an incident.

“As he was being arrested, he was described as aggressive. A caged van was requested and as the door was being closed, he spat.

“It landed on the officer’s forearm, and some landed on the van.”

Davies, who has seven previous convictions from seven offences but nothing since 2019, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault by beating of an emergency worker.

Gerry Armstrong, defending, said: “The daughter was on the phone to her boyfriend. Mr Davies could hear raised voices, and he called the police.

“The police came because they thought that it was a domestic, which it wasn’t. They said they were going to arrest him for a breach of the peace.

“He was in his boxer shorts, and he was taken out in front of the neighbours. He admits that he was upset and frustrated.

“He accepts that just as the door of the van was shutting, he spat. Unfortunately, for him, the door wasn’t quite shut. He apologises.”

Magistrates ordered Davies pay £50 compensation to the policewoman and fined him £120, with £85 court costs and a £48 victim surcharge.

No charge followed on the alleged breach of the peace.