Drug addict jailed after attacking woman and policemen

A TEENAGER who knocked another woman out before biting into the arms of police officers during a “deranged” attack in Belfast city centre has been jailed for eight months.

Courtney McCann kicked and punched the victim as she lay unconscious during the random assault at Callender Street in May 2017.

Belfast Magistrates Court heard the 19-year-old heroin addict also bit and spat bloodied saliva in the face of policemen at the scene.

One officer had to undergo two courses of antibiotic treatment for his injuries.

In a separate incident McCann, of The Mount in Belfast, also lashed out at PSNI representatives amid a mass brawl in the north of the city earlier this month.

She pleaded guilty to a total of six assaults on police, two counts of disorderly behaviour, three assaults occasioning actual bodily harm, and resisting arrest.

A prosecution lawyer said McCann ran up to the woman on Callender Street, knocking her out with kicks and punches.

Further blows were inflicted on the ground before the victim was treated by ambulance staff and taken to hospital.

Amid attempts to detain McCann she bit and broke skin on the arms of two officers, as well as dragging her nails on the hand of a third. “She spat in the face of an officer, with blood in the saliva,” the prosecutor said.

McCann was also dealt with for a violent outburst on the New Lodge Road on August 10 this year. As disturbances broke out in the area, she was seen interfering with attempts to give first aid to a man.

Despite being asked to calm down, she shouted abuse at police, kicked one officer in the leg and another in the groin.

Further attempts were made to bite and spit on PSNI constables during that incident.

Defence barrister Michael Boyd said: “It’s difficult to reconcile this deranged behaviour, which is the only way to describe the outline of the facts, with the placid girl at the back of court.”

He described his client’s behaviour as a “damning indictment” of the extent of her drug problems.

Imprisoning McCann for eight months, District Judge Fiona Bagnall cited her history of violence and the seriousness of the offences. Mrs Bagnall stressed: “There was a random attack on a member of the public who was put down on the ground and kicked — that can only have one outcome.”