Pepper-sprayed after punch-up

"It's a love story which isn't going to win a Man Booker prize or anything."

A couple’s drunken tiff turned violent when a police officer was punched in the head.

The fight got so bad in the early hours of October 22, that New Plymouth couple Jessica Taylah Mewes and Bill Mana Organ had to be pepper-sprayed.

Detective Sergeant Dave MacKenzie said police officers observed Mewes acting aggressively before beginning to chase Organ down the street.

A constable intervened and tried to talk to the woman.

She reacted by punching and kicking out at nearby plants and bushes before walking in her partner’s direction, telling officers she was going to hit him.

When officers tried to arrest Mewes she violently resisted them.

At this stage, Organ then stepped in and began wrestling with the constable before punching him in the head three times.

The couple were then peppersprayed before being arrested.

On Thursday Mewes pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly behaviour and resisting police. Organ pleaded guilty to obstructing police and assaulting a police officer.

Organ’s lawyer Nathan Bourke said it was a ‘‘situation of misguided loyalty’’ on his client’s part rather than any romantic gesture.

‘‘It’s a love story which isn’t going to win a Man Booker prize or anything,’’ Bourke told Judge Lynne Harrison.

Judge Harrison convicted Organ and ordered him to do 160 hours of community work and pay $200 in emotional harm.

Outstanding fines of $1404 owed by Organ were remitted for an additional sentence of 50 hours community work.

Mewes was ordered to complete 130 hours of community work.