A HOMELESS woman ended up striking a police officer and leaving her with a bloodied face after spending what she planned to be a nice day in Skipton, a court heard.

Janice Sugden, 47, came to the town on June 18, because she wanted to be ‘somewhere nice’ on the day that would have been her late brother’s birthday, the court heard on Friday.

She brought with her a bottle of vodka, which she drank, ordered a taxi to take her back to Leeds and became abusive after being told it would cost £50, the court was told.

A member of the public called the police because she was in drink, had an injury to her nose, and was sitting on a wall near Morrisons Supermarket with a three foot drop, said prosecutor, Melanie Ibbotson.

Miss Ibbotson told the court that a witness said that Sugden’s mood changed immediately when the officers arrived, and although they were trying to help, she became ‘hostile’ and stuck Pc Liz Rutter, while swinging her arms about.

Other officers were summoned and Sugden, who had no previous convictions, was eventually arrested and taken to Harrogate Police Station.

At the police station, she continued to be abusive and aggressive, was taken to the floor of a cell and kicked out at Pc Rutter, leaving scratches on her face., which bled, said Miss Ibbotson.

A few days later, on June 25, in Arthur Street, Leeds, she was again arrested for being drunk and disorderly.

Sugden, of no fixed abode, admitted being drunk and disorderly in Craven Street, Skipton on June 18 and the assault by beating of Pc Rutter, an emergency worker. She also admitted being drunk and disorderly in Leeds on June 25.

In mitigation, Keith Blackwell said Sugden had never been in trouble with the police before, and described her as ‘descending into an abyss of difficulty’.

He said her troubles had stared with the loss of her accommodation and her not being able to find an alternative.

She had also recently split from her boyfriend and was being seen by her doctor for her mental health. Mr Blackwell added she had no fixed address and also had a fractured elbow, and since the incidents in Skipton and Leeds had given up drinking.

“She had come to Skipton before, had liked it and thought she would come again because it would have been her brother’s birthday. She had with her a bottle of vodka, continued to drink it and that made her rather senseless,” said Mr Blackwell.

“People were concerned about her because she was on a wall with a three foot drop. But she was so stupefied by that stage that she was unable to respond in a coherent fashion.”

She will be sentenced in a month’s time after a pre-sentence report.