Man in custody suite threw urine water over officers

A MAN assaulted police officers by throwing toilet water over them after he was arrested.

While in a custody at Cardiff Bay police station 39-year-old Nicholas Trask was “making a nuisance of himself”, and when two officers and a detention officer entered his cell, Trask threw a cup full of toilet water over them.

“There was a very strong smell of urine left on the officers and they were disgusted by what had happened,” prosecutor James Evans told Cardiff Crown Court.

“He appears to be a Class A drugs user so there were concerns his body fluids could be toxic.

“Two of the officers said they would prefer to have been punched than having this thrown over them.”

Trask had been arrested after assaulting Kevin Smith on August 7, 2019, in an area of tents outside Cardiff Castle.

Mr Evans said the two men had been friends in the past but on the day of the incident they had an argument, which ended up with Trask punching Smith. The assault didn’t cause him any injuries, Mr Evans added, but police were called and Trask was arrested.

Stephen Thomas, mitigating, said Trask was angry and intoxicated while he was in the cells.

“It was a single act and none of them [the officers] were individually targeted,” Mr Thomas said. “He was homeless at the time and has longterm addiction issues.”

Trask, whose address was given as the Huggard centre in Butetown, admitted three counts of assaulting an emergency worker and one count of assault.

Sentencing him, Judge Jeremy Jenkins noted the incident happened while Trask was on a suspended sentence that had been imposed on him the previous week for various offences including shoplifting.

In relation to the assault on the officers the judge said it was suggested there was faecal matter in the water, which would be an aggravating feature.

“This caused them alarm and distress,” he said. “Luckily no-one was injured, including Smith or the officers.”

Trask, who has 67 previous convictions for more than 130 offences, was sentenced to 63 days in prison.