Police officers who attempted to support a 19-year-old woman after she told them she had taken an overdose found themselves subjected to a stream of physical and verbal abuse.
Officers arrived at the home of Danni Sandow, 19, on December 10, after receiving a call claiming that she had taken an overdose.
The officers conveyed her to Withybush Hospital but upon arrival, she became violent towards them.
“She was resistant and began kicking out whilst she was receiving treatment,” Crown prosecutor Kelly Rivers told Haverfordwest magistrates earlier this week.
“She kicked one of the officers in his right shin, leaving the mark of a footprint on his trousers, and told them to f*** off.
“As a result, the officers felt fearful of getting injured because she was unpredictable and difficult to control.”
Sandow, of Three Meadows, Haverfordwest, pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker and of using threatening words or behaviour that was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
The offences took place whilst Sandow was subject to a suspended prison sentence imposed in November 2022 for an assault conviction.
As a result, Sandow was this week liable to a custodial sentence. But probation officer Julie Norman urged magistrates to give her a second chance.
“The defendant has committed a large number of offences in a short space of time, and probation feels that there is a real likelihood of rehabilitation for her,” she said.
“But clearly there is a pattern of assault on emergency workers that we are concerned about.”
Ms Norman’s comments were endorsed by solicitor Tom Lloyd.
“There is a tragic pattern here that my client is desperately trying to break,” he said.
“The police had called to her home address because they were concerned about her welfare. She had taken an overdose but then things spiralled out of control.
“A huge contributing factor is her consumption of alcohol, and she can’t recollect anything that happened that day.
“Although she thinks she’s self-medicating by drinking alcohol, in the long term it’s not helping her.”
After considering the mitigation, magistrates sentenced Sandow to eight weeks in custody suspended for 18 months.
She was ordered to pay a £154 surcharge, £85 costs and £50 compensation to Dyfed-Powys Police.
