A woman who was intoxicated when she assaulted two police officers has been convicted in Orange Local Court.
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Two female constables from Orange Police Station had been responding to an incident relating to the accused at the Ophir Hotel shortly after 9pm on April 28.
There, they found Georgina Louise Bell, 39, of Glenroi, seated on the ground outside the pub.
According to documents tendered to court, the two officers had activated their body-worn cameras before attempting to speak to Bell.
"The accused was immediately aggressive towards police and repeatedly told police to 'f*** off'," police said.
During the interaction, Bell had "slurred speech" and was "very imbalanced". She then staggered to her feet and walked away from the officers.
When they again approached her, Bell again told the two constables to "f*** off".
As Bell was observed attempting to approach another group of people, police decided to interfere and grabbed her by the arm. Bell fell to the ground and reportedly tried to crawl towards the other group of people.
When one of the constables again grabbed her by the forearm, Bell responded by making several attempts to elbow the officer's knee. She then tried to bite the policewoman's hand, while yelling, "I will end you".
As a result, police forced the accused onto her stomach. Shortly afterwards, while trying to get her into a seated position, Bell told the constables: "You f***ing dogs, I will f***ing smash you". She then raised her arm and with a closed fist, punched one of the constables in the vest.
At this point, Bell was arrested. As she was escorted to the police car, she continued her tirade, telling the officers, "I will f***ing kill you, you sluts" and tried to kick one of the constables.
On Monday, Bell faced Orange Local Court charged with two counts of trying to assault a police officer.
Her solicitor Mason Manwaring emphasised Bell's otherwise clean record, telling the court that this was her only offence as an adult.
He added that the "only explanation" for his client's behaviour that night was that it was the "obvious effects of too much alcohol".
He also described her actions as "out of character" - something which the written references submitted to the court by several long-time friends further attested to.
Magistrate David Day took pains to emphasis the seriousness of assaulting police and said that intoxication was no excuse for her offending.
"[Police] do some of the most grim, gruesome, thankless tasks," and shouldn't have to put up this kind of "drunken rubbish," he said.
Bell was convicted and sentenced to a Community Correction Order for two years and 30 hours of community service.
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