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Drunk woman smashed boyfriend’s £350 television – then tried to bite and spit on police officers

Laura Gemmell appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court. Image: Wullie Marr/DC Thomson
Laura Gemmell appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court. Image: Wullie Marr/DC Thomson

A drunk woman smashed her boyfriend’s £350 television when she threw a glass at the screen – then tried to bite police and spit on them.

Laura Gemmell was chucked out of her partner’s home in Fraserburgh where she repeatedly shouted and banged on his front door during the disturbance.

Neighbours overheard the commotion and when police arrived to deal with the nuisance, they found her “highly intoxicated” on the street.

The 44-year-old even had to be restrained with a spit hood that she somehow managed to get off, before spitting on an officer.

But Gemmell’s defence solicitor later told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that his client has since turned her “very chaotic” life around.

Laura Gemmell leaving the court building. Image: Wullie Marr/DC Thomson

Fiscal depute Ruaridh McAllister said the disturbance took place in St Andrews Drive in Fraserburgh, around 6pm on August 30 last year.

He told the court that the pair had been in a casual relationship for about eight weeks at the time.

“They were in the living room and the accused was heavily under the influence of alcohol at the time”, he said.

“She became aggressive and picked up a glass which she threw at the television, smashing the screen. It was worth £350.

“Neighbours heard shouting and banging from the home and her then-partner physically removed her from the house.

“Once outside, she repeatedly struck the door while shouting at him. Police found her shortly after in Academy Street and described her as ‘highly intoxicated’.”

Placed in a spit hood

Gemmell’s aggressive behaviour soon turned on the officers.

She was placed in a spit hood but still managed to yank it off and spit on one officer, landing on his body armour.

Then she tried to bite another officer’s arm.

At Aberdeen Sheriff Court, Gemmell admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, police assault, and spitting on an officer.

‘Very chaotic’ life

Her defence agent Lisa Riley said the incident happened during a “very chaotic” period in Gemmell’s life when her client was “dependent on alcohol”.

The solicitor said Gemmell had shown “clear remorse” and had been working with agencies to address her addiction issues.

“She is no longer using illicit substances,” Ms Riley added. “She is avoiding old acquaintances.

“She is back in touch with family she had not been involved with in years and she is now in a stable relationship and engaged. This has happened during a short space of time.”

Sheriff Morag McLaughlin handed Gemmell, of Rosehearty, 150 hours of unpaid work, two years of supervision and a six-month curfew to be enforced by an electronic tag.

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