Jail sentence given to woman for assaulting police officers

Stephanie Hutchison, 41, of Kurim Avenue, and two males met police outside the Betula Street property at 7.53pm on October 4, and told police she wanted to recover her property because the back door was broken.

However, the police discovered there was a court appointed arrest warrant for one of the males for assault and failing to attend court and when they told him he was under arrest he reacted violently.  

According to police, during a struggle the male was grabbed by both officers but managed to momentarily blind one of the officers by pulling the officer's hooded jumper over his face and Hutchison grabbed the officer around the hips, tried to pull him away and knocked his police radio out of its holder fell out of reach.

As the struggle continued she screamed "let him go you dogs, f***en let him go," and she continued to try and intervene in the arrest despite repeated warnings.

The female senior constable radioed for back-up but Hutchison also knocked her radio out of reach and knocked the police officer off balance so she fell on her back.

She also later put the female police officer into a headlock but the officer freed herself and kept hold of the male.  

The male was eventually subdued after being sprayed with capsicum spray and Hutchison ran at the police again but backed off when she was threatened with the capsicum spray.

Magistrate David Day said he had seen worse assaults on police, but they involved serious injury and Hutchison's assault was one of the more serious assaults he had seen that did not cause injury.

"She told the police about a break and enter, police then decided to carry out another duty to arrest somebody because they had been instructed to do so by the court," Mr Day said. 

MAP: The street where the break and enter and assaults took place ….

"Instead of asking, 'why are you arresting [him]' she took it on her self to hinder police and thereafter assaults two police officers."

Mr Day said the assaults warranted a 12-month term of imprisonment however he reduced the term by 25 per cent due to early pleas of guilty so Hutchison was given two concurrent nine-month jail sentences with six-month non-parole periods for two assault charges.

She was also given a supervised 18-month community corrections order for hindering police.

Hutchinson would have been eligible for release on August 26, however she was granted bail on Wednesday after launching a severity appeal to be heard in Orange District Court in May.

One of the main reasons given for granting bail was so Hutchison could attend her partner's funeral, however Mr Day did ask why she didn't ask to have the sentence adjourned until after the funeral because he said she should have suspected she would go to jail. 

Hutchinson was not charged with actual bodily harm so injuries sustained by both police officers were not taken into account during sentencing.

However, both police officers were treated at Orange Health Service with the male senior constable requiring medication and testing due to a laceration on his chest from a bite and the female police officer required scans and x-rays for a potentially fractured cheek and left hand.