A sheriff’s decision not to punish a woman who tried to drag a police officer to the ground by her hair has been blasted as “impotent” and “unbelievable” by a police organisation.
Care home worker Chelsea Duguid admitted grabbing the female officer outside an Aberdeen pub but was handed a rarely-offered absolute discharge by Sheriff Ian Duguid.
The 29-year-old lashed out after seeing police officers pinning her then-boyfriend to the ground on Adelphi Lane in the early hours of the morning.
Adamant he had done nothing wrong she confronted the officer before being pushed out of the way, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
Duguid, though, reacted to this by grabbing the woman’s hair bun and trying to pull her to the ground.
Her solicitor, John McLeod, urged Sheriff Duguid to hand her an absolute discharge – meaning the conviction would not appear on her criminal record – saying she has no previous convictions and this could put her job at risk.
Sheriff Duguid deemed her suitable for an absolute discharge but stressed how unusual it was for crimes against emergency service workers.
“An absolute discharge is an unusual disposal and one rarely used except in certain circumstances,” he said.
“An absolute discharge for a contravention of this section of this act, which is designed to protect public services workers in the execution of their duties, is even more unusual.”
‘The impotence of the courts’
Reacting to the sentence, David Hamilton, the chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, said it sends out the wrong message.
He said: “Once again police officers find themselves looking in utter disbelief at the impotence of the courts in dealing with those who want to harm them.
“All of the pledges and promises are meaningless if the criminal justice system isn’t actually prepared to send a clear message that assaulting police officers will be met with the full force of the law.”
It is the second time in recent weeks that an absolute discharge has been handed out at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
‘A terrifying experience’
Fiscal depute Ellen Barr said the incident involving Duguid happened at 12.15am on September 11 last year, outside a pub on the city’s Adelphi Lane.
“She became upset telling the police he had been in her company and he hadn’t anything to do with what he was being accused of by police,” she said.
“She was under the influence of alcohol and police tried to push her away to let them deal with the incident at hand.”
But after that shove, Duguid reacted by seizing the police officer by the hair and trying to pull her to the ground by her bun.
Duguid, who was not present in the dock, initially pled not guilty to a charge of resisting and hindering police but changed that plea through her solicitor at an intermediate diet.
‘An instinctive response’
Defence agent John McLeod said his client – of Auchmill Road, Bucksburn – the incident was “over in a fraction of a second”.
“She is entirely apologetic for her actions, which she says was an instinctive response,” he added.
“She was immediately taken hold of and restrained to the ground and placed in custody. This was an absolutely terrifying experience.
“She came out of the licensed premises to find her then-partner being detained by police and didn’t know why.”
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