A woman who bit a police officer and pulled out clumps of her hair during a violent arrest outside a pub has been given a suspended sentence.
Kyana Murray, 41, from Horton Avenue, Shiremoor, North Tyneside, first assaulted a bar manager before attacking officers who tried to detain her.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that Murray was seen dancing barefoot in the middle of the road outside the pub. She then went inside, where staff told her she was not permitted to be there.
Attack on bar manager
Murray replied: "I own this bar, who are you, you fat ****." She then spat on the manager and swung two punches, one of which connected with the manager's shoulder.
Murray ended up on the floor and the bar manager ejected her from the pub. Murray then grabbed the woman's hair and dragged her along the floor, pulling a chunk of hair out of her head. Members of the public intervened to make her release her grip, and Murray fled the scene.
The bar manager suffered an injury to her left knee, which was bandaged before police arrived. She also sustained grazes to her left arm and hand, with clumps of hair torn out.
In a victim impact statement, she said: "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."
Assault on police officers
Two police constables responded to the emergency call and found Murray outside the Queen Alexander Pub. She refused to give her name, became agitated, and started throwing her arms around.
After being told she was under arrest, a female officer tried to grab her left wrist to put on handcuffs, but Murray resisted and tried to bite the officer's shoulder.
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."
Injuries and sentence
The female officer sustained bite marks to her upper left arm and lower right arm, a potential bite mark on her right middle finger, and pain across her shoulder, back, forehead and the back of her head. She was left with puncture wounds and scarring, which affected her ability to care for her children, impacted her career and resulted in PTSD.
The male officer had a bite mark on his right elbow and scratch marks on his knees and elbows. He deployed PAVA spray on Murray, but she maintained her grip on the other officer's hair.
Murray admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm on the bar manager and female officer, as well as assaulting an emergency worker.
Judge Robert Spragg described the incidents as "hugely distressing" for the victims. He said Murray's mental health condition had influenced her "ability to exercise appropriate judgement and make rational choices", leading directly to the offences.
He noted she was sectioned for two months following the attacks. Judge Spragg added: "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 received a 16-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, with a requirement for mental health treatment.
Antonia Adie, defending, said: "The defendant expresses remorse. She wishes more than anybody that this horrific offence had not occurred."
Adie said Murray, a mother of three, had previously worked as a lifeguard and call centre worker. Her mental health declined in 2020, and she suffers from bipolar disorder.
