A woman has faced court after a female police officer was cut trying to arrest her.
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Magistrate David Day sentenced Tayla Laneyrie, 22, of Cudal Street Manildra, in Orange Local Court on Thursday, September 28.
Mr Day told Laneyrie while she was in court the police had a good reason to search her given they found drugs and a "Glock 17" gel blaster pistol in the car she'd been driving.
"She starts cutting up rough and being a pest," Mr Day said of Laneyrie's behaviour on the night of the offence.
According to court documents, Laneyrie had been driving in Coffs Harbour on August 25, 2023, with two passengers when she accelerated harshly near a roundabout before undertaking an unmarked police car about 11pm.
She was stopped and her front seat passenger was arrested for breaching his bail and AVO conditions.
According to the police, when the man was told he was under arrest he put his hands in his pockets and passed a clear resealable bag to Laneyrie.
They both became agitated when the police mentioned their observation of the bag being passed between them and the man was removed from the car while police waited for a caged vehicle to attend the location.
He began resisting the police and, while two police officers tried to restrain him on the ground, Laneyrie continued to try and get out of the car and approach them.
She was told multiple times to sit in the car and that she was being detained for a general search because the police officers believed the man passed drugs to her.
She was also warned about hindering the police efforts to arrest the man.
Laneyrie was removed from the vehicle when female police officers arrived at the scene.
She was told to put both hands on a nearby fence so she could be searched. However, she failed to follow the police directions and moved her arms and pushed against the fence resisting the police officers.
She was wrestled to the ground and arrested as a result of her behaviour and during the struggle one of the arresting officers received a scratch to the top of her right hand.
Police also searched the car and found a small plastic bag containing 0.53 grams of cannabis in the driver's door pocket. They also found a "Glock 17" gel blaster pistol underneath the front passenger seat.
Laneyrie was taken to Coffs Harbour Police Station where she refused an interview and denied any knowledge of the pistol.
Solicitor Dominic Holles said Laneyrie thought she was "the accused" the police were after.
"That's obviously not the case," he said.
"She reacted because of that."
There were good reasons to search you.
- Magistrate David Day
Mr Holles said Laneyrie was exposed to violence and alcohol abuse when she was growing up, which should be taken into account.
He said she also has good prospects of rehabilitation and police prosecutor Sergeant Beau Riley agreed with Mr Holles' assessment.
He added seeing the passenger being taken into custody made her upset.
Mr Day said Laneyrie's behaviour was not the worst case of resisting police he'd seen.
"This was just making it difficult to be searched," Mr Day said.
"There were good reasons to search you," he added, talking directly to Laneyrie, "because there were some drugs found in the car and a firearm, a gel blaster pistol."
He added police also regularly find knives and other "cutting implements" on people during searches.
"They are looking out for their own skin as well as your skin so you don't self harm yourself if you are under arrest," Mr Day said.
Mr Day convicted Laneyrie for one resist charge and two charges of hindering police.
He gave her three concurrent nine-month community correction orders for the offences.
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