Man attacked two police officers trying to help after finding him stumbling in road

Michael Sanders, 37, was in Houghton Road, Hetton, when officers drove his way just after midnight on Monday, April 19.

Prosecutor Glenda Beck told magistrates in South Tyneside that Sanders, of nearby Devon Street, became aggressive.

And when placed in a police van, the pub worker kicked an officer – and also hoofed the door against another.

Sanders, who pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting an emergency worker by beating, has been warned he could be jailed when sentenced next month.

Mrs Beck said: “Officers noticed him stumbling in the middle of the road. They tried to move him out of the road.

“One officer was struggling to move Sanders, who appeared drunk and was acting in an aggressive manner.

“He was shouting, and said, ‘I just want to kill myself’. Due to his struggling, he was handcuffed and taken to the floor.

“He agreed to calm down if the handcuffs were placed at the front instead of at his back.”

But Mrs Beck said Sanders again became aggressive and lashed out at the two police officers while in a police van.

She added: “He was put in the cell part of the police vehicle, but he lashed out and kicked an officer on the right leg.

“He still tried to lash out, and he kicked the door, which hit the same officer.

“He was placed in the vehicle’s cell. He kicked out and hit the other officer.”

The court heard neither PC suffered injury but in statements both expressed their repulsion at his antics.

Lucy Redshaw, defending, said Sanders was suffering significant mental health issues at the time.

She added: “He was suicidal.

“He’d hit the bottle on this night, he had every intention of killing himself.

“He has limited recollection of what happened, it was a time of desperation.”

Magistrates asked for an all options report into Sanders’ offending, and granted him unconditional to be sentenced at the same court on Friday, August 20.

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