Woman repeatedly kicked a Police Community Support Officer in the groin in South Shields
A woman who left a lawman with a sore testicle after a repeat kick attack while being detained in South Tyneside has been spared jail.
Chanel Smethurst, 27, booted the police community support worker when she lashed out in the town’s Ocean Road on Friday, February 21.
Smethurst, of no fixed abode, struck him five times in the groin and to a thigh and was so aggressive she had to be subdued by protective PAVA spray.
She was jailed for 16 weeks but the sentence was suspended for a year after a judge heard she was taking steps to change her ways.
Prosecutor Paul Anderson told the borough’s magistrates’ court Smethurst struck close to the Flagg Court medical centre.
Mr Anderson said: “He was on duty that day with other officers when there was a disturbance.
“One person who was there was Ms Smethurst, who appeared to be intoxicated and smelled of alcohol.
“She was being put into a police vehicle when she was aggressive.
“She kicked the officer in the groin and his upper left thigh five times when she kicked out. Another officer had to use his PAVA spray.”
Smethurst pleaded guilty to a charge of assault by beating of an emergency worker.
The court heard she has three previous convictions for assault, the last in 2024.
In a victim statement, the community support officer revealed the attack had left him with a sore left testicle.
Defending herself, Smethurst, who is in employment, said she believed she could put her offending behind her if she could address an alcohol issue.
She added: “I just want to apologise for the assault. It’s not like me.”
District Judge Zoe Passfield told Smethurst she was doing well on an existing community order, imposed for a previous offence.
She also said the Probation Service had written a positive pre-sentence report in which Smethurst had stated her desire to change.
Judge Passfield added she believed there was a good chance the offender would not return to court if her commitment to betterment remained.
She ordered Smethurst to complete 20 rehabilitation days and pay her victim £200 compensation.
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