A BUXTON man has been jailed after biting, kicking, and spitting at police officers.
Police were called to the Cross Street home of Ryan Matthew Diggle and his partner just after 9pm on Boxing Day, after receiving reports of a domestic disturbance, High Peak Magistrates’ Court heard.
When they arrived they saw Diggle’s partner crouched down in a corner of the house with Diggle standing over her and blood smeared all over the walls, prosecutor Jennifer Fitzgerald said.
Diggle was aggressive and abusive towards the officers, Ms Fitzgerald said. While the officers were trying to restrain and arrest Diggle, he continued being aggressive and abusive and threatened to spit and bite them.
He was handcuffed and placed in leg restraints but spat at one of the officers. Another officer then became involved in trying to restrain him and was kicked in the leg by Diggle.
Once at the police station, Diggle continued spitting and trying to bite officers and bit one of the officers on his middle finger.
Diggle, 20, admitted two charges of assaulting a police officer and one charge of obstructing/resisting a police officer. He was subject to a conditional discharge when the offences were committed, the court heard.
James Riley, defending, said: “The defendant was lay on the floor in handcuffs and leg restraints and wouldn’t have been capable of really committing any serious or significant injury.
“He was clearly intoxicated and has not behaved in a respectable way. The police attended as a result of a call from a neighbour. There are no substantive charges arising out of this incident. Had the police not gone there, there would be nothing. That doesn’t excuse how the defendant behaved once the police got there.”
Diggle was jailed for eight weeks for each of the two assaults on the officers, to run concurrently. No order was made for compensation or costs. Magistrates imposed no separate penalty for the resisting an officer or breaching a conditional discharge offences.