Officer’s screams of pain in attack

Man found with guns, ammo

A man who assaulted a female police officer during his dramatic arrest on the northern Gold Coast

– even after being tasered – will remain behind bars for at least a year.

Body-worn camera footage played in Southport Magistrates Court captured the violent confrontation between Noah Spells and the officer at Parkwood on December 13.

Spells was found asleep in a parked car on Greenacre Drive early that morning, with a male officer giving chase as the other man fled on foot.

The court was told Spells – who was “heavily under the influence” – appeared to search for something in his vehicle as the female officer repeatedly yelled at him to get out of the car.

Spells suddenly lunged from the driver’s seat and charged towards the officer, who tasered him and held him down as he writhed in the middle of the road.

The footage showed the 40year-old launched a second attack as the officer put her taser on the ground trying to arrest him, with Spells grabbing the officer’s hair and grappling with her for several seconds as she screamed in pain.

Spells can be seen running away as his victim gasps for air and calls for help, but was soon tracked down and taken into custody.

Police later found a loaded fully automatic handmade firearm and dozens of rounds of ammunition in the vehicle.

The court was told the attack was the final offence in a months-long crime spree.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Matthew Thompson said it was only the day prior that Spells had stolen a car from a Southport car wash, then confronted a group trying to recover it with a “revolver-style handgun” outside a Tugun home.

Constable Thompson said Spells’ lengthy criminal history was littered with similar offending, and that he was on parole at the time of the later offences.

Defence lawyer Jason Grant said that Spells came from an affluent background, but fell into drug addiction and criminal patterns and was soon cut off from his family members and the “life he was accustomed to”.

Mr Grant said his client accepted his offending was serious and that the assault would have been “terrifying” for the officer.

Magistrate Dzenita Balic said things had clearly gone “significantly wrong” for Spells prior to his arrest, but that his mother’s efforts to rebuild their relationship were promising for his future.

Spells pleaded guilty to numerous offences including serious assault on police, going armed so as to cause fear, and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

He was sentenced to two years’ jail with parole eligibility from April 13, 2025.