Suspended term for biting officer

Symbol of law and justice in the empty courtroom, law and justice concept.

A woman who bit a female police officer - which required her to be tested for HIV - was given a prison sentence last Wednesday at Craigavon Magistrates Court.

And it was only suspended on the basis that the defendant did not return to Northern Ireland.

Joanne Molloy (32) whose address at the time was Beech Meadows, Waringstown, was charged with two assaults on females occasioning them actual bodily harm.

She was also accused of two assaults on police.

For each of the offences she was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for two years.

The court heard that on July 24, 2013, at approximately 6.25pm a male and a female waved down a police mobile patrol in Edward Street in Lurgan.

The injured party alleged she had been approached by a female who was aggressive and snatched her mobile phone from her. The attacker then grabbed her by the hair and scratched her.

Molloy was stopped by police in High Street and she said: “We done nothing wrong.”

In the custody suite she was verbally aggressive and lunged towards an officer.

She was swinging her arms and kicked out her legs towards officers and one received a bite on the thumb.

When interviewed she said she was drunk and couldn’t remember the circumstances of her arrest.

Defence barrister Damien Halloran said his client had been convicted in her absence in Craigavon court after she had absented herself from the jurisdiction.