Woman punched police officer saying 'I will give you a reason to lock me up'

Susan Lisa Colbourne, 55, of Brockton, Shifnal, pleaded guilty to one charge when she appeared at Telford Magistrates Court.

Neil Baki, prosecuting, told the court that police had been called to Colbourne's home at around 2pm on April 30, by her husband, John Colbourne, reporting criminal damage to the property – including his wife smashing a television.

Police attended the home and described Colbourne as "immediately aggressive," and becoming increasingly more agitated – telling them she wanted her husband out of the home.

Mr Baki said there followed a dispute where Colbourne wanted to sit on her sofa, but when told that she could be arrested if she did not calm down replied "I will give you a reason to lock me up," and punched PC Jessica Cummings to the face.

The court was told the attack was "completely unprovoked".

Colbourne was then "wrestled to the floor" and arrested, and proceeded to shout abuse at the officers present, accusing them of being rapists and child molesters.

Mr Baki read a victim impact statement from PC Cummings, who described how the punch had left her with a "wobbly tooth", after the mobile phone being held by Colbourne made contact with her mouth as she was struck.

PC Cummings' statement described how she was now "more mindful" of how she approached incidents with the public, to make sure she does not get assaulted again.

Representing herself, Colbourne said she was "very sorry for hurting the officer" and added that she had been experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of the incident.

She explained she had been sick at the time of the incident and had been frustrated that the police would not let her back inside her home, while she was wearing only a dressing gown outside.

Chairman of the bench, Angela Channon, said she wanted to adjourn the case to allow for the probation service to discuss mental health issues with Colbourne before passing sentence.

The case was adjourned until Wednesday, August 30, for sentence at Telford Magistrates Court.