A woman who attacked a bar manager then repeatedly bit a female police officer and pulled chunks of her hair out during an arrest has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Kyana Murray, 41, of Horton Avenue, Shiremoor, North Tyneside, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm on the bar manager and the female officer, plus assaulting an emergency worker, at Newcastle Crown Court.
Attack outside pub
On July 14 2025 at 6.15pm, a manager at the Spring Gardens pub in North Shields saw Murray dancing in the middle of the road outside the pub with no shoes on. She was told she was not allowed in the pub and responded: "I own this bar, who are you, you fat ****." She then spat on the manager and swung two punches, one of which connected with her shoulder.
Murray ended up on the floor and the bar manager ejected her from the pub. However, Murray then grabbed the woman's hair and dragged her along the floor, taking a chunk of her hair out of her head. Members of the public intervened to get the defendant to release her grip and Murray made off.
Officer bitten during arrest
Two PCs responded to the emergency call and spotted Murray outside the Queen Alexander Pub. The defendant refused to give her name and began to get more agitated, then started to throw her arms around. She was told that she was under arrest and a female officer went to grab her left wrist and put cuffs on her when she started to resist. She tried to bite the officer's shoulder but missed.
Michael Forrest, prosecuting, said: "They started to struggle when she felt instant pain to her upper left arm and she instantly knew that the defendant was biting her. As a result of the struggle, the officer and the defendant ended up on the floor.
"The cuff that was on one of the defendants arms came free and the defendant punched the PC to the left side of her face near her lip and she bit her on her lower right arm. She also managed to grab the officers hair and remove chunks of it and also grabbed near her throat causing the officer pain."
The officer felt like her scalp was going to be ripped off and she tried everything she could including punching the defendant to get her to release her grip. The other officer who was present assisted in the detention of the defendant and had to throw three preventative strikes to prevent the defendant from assaulting his colleague. The defendant attempted to bite him to the arm towards his elbow but he threw an elbow strike to avoid this. He was trying to drag the defendant away from his colleague, who was screaming. The male officer used his PAVA spray on her but she still had a grip of the other officer's hair.
Injuries and sentence
The bar manager sustained an injury to her left knee which was bandaged prior to police arriving. She also had scrapes to her left arm and her hand and clumps of hair were pulled out. She said in a victim impact statement: "I have worked for 22 years and this has never happened to me before. I should not come to work and be assaulted in my place of work. This has caused me visible injuries. This is going to make me a lot more wary of people that come to the pub."
The female officer suffered a bite mark to upper left arm, right lower arm and a possible bite mark to right middle finger, pain across her shoulder, back, forehead and back of her head. She was left with puncture wounds and scarring, it affected her looking after her children, affected her career and left her with PTSD. The male officer had a bite mark on his right elbow and scratch marks on his knees and elbows.
Judge Robert Spragg said it was "hugely distressing" for the victims but that Murray's mental health condition had affected her "ability to exercise appropriate judgement and make rational choices" and led directly to the offending. He added that she was sectioned for two months after the attacks.
Judge Spragg said: "The assault on (the female officer) was horrendous. Officers like her have to deal with extremely difficult situations and they walk towards that danger to protect the public.
"In normal circumstances you would be going immediately to custody but there are a number of factors in your case that means, exceptionally, the sentence will be suspended."
Murray was sentenced to 16 months suspended for 18 months with a mental health treatment requirement.
Antonia Adie, defending, said: "The defendant expresses remorse. She wishes more than anybody that this horrific offence had not occurred." Miss Adie said mum-of-three Murray had previously worked in jobs including as a lifeguard and in a call centre but her mental health had deteriorated in 2020 and she suffers from bi-polar disorder.
