'Abusive' drunk made 'strange threats' before being arrested outside South Shields pub

Sara Forsyth, 46, toppled over as officers attempted to handcuff her close to the Mechanics Arms pub in South Shields town centre.

Intoxicated Forsyth, of Millway, Deckham, Gateshead, had been found stumbling around East Street with a cut to a hand on Tuesday, April 5.

In the ensuing tussle, all three hit the deck, prosecutor Emma O’Hegarty told South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

Forsyth was fined in her absence after she failed to attend court on a charge of being drunk and disorderly, with magistrates finding the allegation proved.

Mrs O’Hegarty said: “At 5.30pm, officers were parked near Asda when they were approached and told a female in East Street was causing a disturbance.

“It was outside the Mechanics Arms where they noticed a female staggering in the road. She had an open bottle of alcohol.

“They approached and noticed that there was a cut to her right hand. They wondered if she had been attacked.

“She said that she had fallen over. She became abusive and made strange threats.

“She was also unsteady on her feet, and the officers could smell that she was drunk.

“Because of her abuse, she gave the officers no option but to arrest her.

“She kicked her legs out when the police went to put handcuffs on her, and she fell over. The officers also fell over.

“She was arrested and taken into custody but, because of her behaviour, she wasn’t taken to the custody suite but straight to a cell.”

The court heard unemployed Forsyth has 31 previous convictions from 56 offences, the most recent in June last year.

Magistrates fined her £60, with £85 court costs and a £34 victim surcharge, and ordered her to pay the money in full within 14 days.