Homeless South Tyneside woman ordered to pay compensation to police officer she kicked and verbally abused

Magistrates ordered Kirstine Amer, 39, of Cook Close, near Laygate, South Shields, to cough up £10 for the assault on Saturday, July 19. And they ordered she pay the same amount as an uplift for her attack being against an emergency worker.

They then added £10 on top because Amer referenced the officer’s apparent Scottish heritage in swearing at her, an act described as being racial. The magistrates justified their leniency on the grounds the charge against Amer could have been dealt with at her previous court hearing on Monday, August 18.

On that day, she was jailed for 10 weeks for theft, drug and criminal damage offences and had already committed the assault on the WPC. The attack was not included in the charges and should have been, defence solicitor David Forrester said.

He insisted it was unlikely Amer’s sentence would have been any more severe had it been. Of her attack, prosecutor Rehana Haque said Amer acted aggressively when police arrived at a property in Boldon Colliery on other matters.

She said Amer was then arrested for a separate alleged assault and became verbally abusive – and tried to bite a male officer. Amer was taken to Sunderland’s Southwick police station and while there, used her right leg to kick the WPC's right shin, causing no injury.

When handcuffed and taken to a cell, she swore and made derogatory comments about the policewoman being Scottish. In her statement, the officer said Amer then said, “I’ll happily go to HMP for assaulting you”.

Though the attack was not charged as being racially motivated, Mrs Haque said it was because Amer referenced the officer’s perceived heritage. Amer, who has 49 previous convictions from 105 offences, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault by beating of an emergency worker.

Mr Forrester said Amer has mental health issues and had been treated unfairly by police in the weeks since the assault. He conceded: “She shouldn’t kick a police officer, no matter what her emotional height is. At the time of this offence, she was homeless. This is a damaged lady. She has been released from prison on licence.”