'Extremely intoxicated' South Tyneside dad-of-five kicked two policemen and spat on one's face
A South Tyneside dad-of-five who kicked two policemen - also spitting on one's face - has been handed a suspended prison sentence.
Paul Robson, 39, booted the first officer on a leg after they both tumbled to the floor during a struggle at his mother’s home in Don Dixon Way, Jarrow. When the second officer intervened, Robson, of Beach Road, central South Shields, kicked off his glasses and spat in his face, a court heard.
He did so while drunk and having been asked to leave the property during an earlier visit by police on Thursday, October 16. At South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, he pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker.
District Judge Zoe Passfield told him spitting at police always attracted a prison sentence – and jailed him for six months for each offence, to run concurrently. But she suspended the sentence for a year, ordering Robson to undergo 25 days of rehabilitation and stay alcohol-free via a monitoring tag for 90 days.
Prosecutor Jade Houston said: “Officers were in Don Dixon Drive, due to a report of a domestic-related incident. They had attended earlier, and this defendant had been asked to leave the address.
“They returned later, and the defendant blocked the officers from entering the property, saying that they needed a warrant. He was arrested for a breach of the peace. He was handcuffed but pushed back, and he and an officer fell to the floor.
“He kicked out, kicking that officer on the leg. The other officer then had him in handcuffs. He has then kicked out towards the other officer, kicking off his glasses, causing reddening, and he’s then spat in his face.”
Jobless Robson has 30 previous convictions from 37 offences, the last for a dissimilar matter in 2018. A Probation Service report confirmed he was “heavily under the influence of alcohol” and binge drinks but does not have a booze problem.
David Forrester, defending, said: “He knows this was not impressive. Fortunately, there was limited injury, and he made immediate admissions to police. He gave a prepared statement, saying that there was alcohol and that he was embarrassed about the way he had behaved.
“He said he had been at his mum’s house and was extremely intoxicated. He said he would never have behaved this way ‘if I’d been in control of my faculties’.”
Robson must also pay each officer £100 compensation from his state benefits.