Shoeless Sunderland man missing his false teeth spat at police officers who spotted him beside broken down car on A690

Scott White, 39, took aim and hit the officers on their stab vests – and may have done so with just one expulsion of spittle, a court heard.

White, of Potter Square, Plains Farm, Sunderland, attacked them after they found him standing next to a broken down car on the A690 dual carriageway at East Herrington.

They noticed he was without footwear late on Wednesday, May 27 last year and was drunk – and he was also missing his false teeth.

When they asked him why he was there, he launched a tirade of abuse and spat, prosecutor Paul Anderson told South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

White has been jailed for 16 weeks after admitting two assaults by beating of an emergency worker, a sentence suspended for a year.

Mr Anderson said: “He appeared to be drunk and was staggering.

“Police had been called to the scene by an off-duty officer who had called for uniformed officers to attend.

“The officers try to speak to the defendant but he is aggressive and abusive. He said, ‘What’s it got to do with you’?

“He was put into the back of a police vehicle following his arrest and he spits at both officers.

“He hits them on their stab vests and swears at them.”

In a victim statement read to the court, one officer described White’s behaviour as “absolutely disgusting”.

Paul McAlindon, defending, said: “The vehicle was his partner’s, it had broken down.

“Mr White went, he had had a drink. He didn’t have shoes on and didn’t have his teeth in.

“The police arrive and he’s clearly under the influence of something.

“He had been drinking heavily and had taken prescription medication for various issues that had been going on.

“It’s clear the police have concerns about his behaviour. He accepts he was belligerent.

“I think it was one spit that hit both officers. He has little recollection of it.”

District Judge Paul Currer described White’s behaviour as “appalling” and said it had crossed the custody threshold.

He jailed White for 16 weeks on each of the two assault charges, to run concurrently.

White must also undergo 20 sessions of rehabilitation work with the Probation Service and undertake a nine-month alcohol treatment programme.

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