The ex-girlfriend of a ‘jet-ski Romeo’ won’t go to jail after kicking a police officer in the head.
32-year-old Jessica Marguerita Radcliffe was previously in a relationship with a man who said he’d jet skied to the Isle of Man from Scotland to be with her during lockdown. She was banned from pubs after pleading guilty to being drunk and disorderly.
Radcliffe hit headlines in December 2020 when her partner, Dale McLaughlin, made the treacherous 25-mile journey in a desperate attempt to see her in the middle of lockdown.
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She said at the time she planned to marry the man but the pair have since split up. She had to be restrained with Pava spray after struggling with police officers when they tried to put her in a van. She spat in one cop's face and kicked another.
According to the Daily Record, prosecuting advocate Hazel Caroon told the court that police went to Radcliffe’s home in Douglas, on the Isle of Man, on April 24 for an unrelated matter which was not pursued. Radcliffe was in the garden and as she was arrested she pushed one officer.
Radcliffe was cuffed and taken to a police van but became aggressive, refusing to get into the van and pushing an officer again. She was said to be shouting and swearing as she used her legs to block the van doors from being closed and was subsequently sprayed with Pava to restrain her.
Radcliffe kicked at one officer, hitting him in the face and then spat in the face of another, digging her nails into his arm and made an imaginative threat that can’t be repeated. During an interview at the police headquarters, Radcliffe said police officers had been hurting her arms and she asked them to get off her, but then said she lost her temper.
She denied any assault and said she just sat on the van bumper and wanted a minute to calm down. Radcliffe said that, since going to prison, she had an issue with people touching her arms.
She told police: "I'm the one that's been assaulted. Have you seen my arms?"
Radcliffe pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a police officer, three counts of obstructing police and one count of threatening behaviour. On May 7, officers were on patrol in Douglas at 12:40am when they came across Radcliffe in an altercation with another woman.
Radcliffe was reportedly swearing and shouting “I’ll kill you” as she attempted to grab the other woman. She was said to be smelling of alcohol and had glazed eyes.
Officers attempted to calm her down but she refused and then tried to punch the other woman. She was subsequently arrested and made no reply after caution.
At the Deputy High Bailiff's Court in the Isle of Man Courts of Justice, she pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly. Defence advocate Louise Cooil handed in letters of reference for her client as well as a letter from Radcliffe herself, and urged the court to follow the recommendation of a probation report, for a suspended sentence supervision order.
Ms Cooil said that all the April offences had stemmed from the same circumstances, when police had attended Radcliffe's address to arrest her for matters which came to nothing. Radcliffe claimed that this had arisen because of a malicious complaint made about her.
Ms Cooil said that her client suffered from anxiety and a doctor had indicated a potential post-traumatic stress diagnosis. The advocate said that the kick in the face had been reckless rather than deliberate.
Mr Brooks told Radcliffe: "I hope the work you undertake with probation will ensure an offence-free life in the future, but ultimately that's not their job, that's your job." Deputy High Bailiff Mr Brooks sentenced Radcliffe to six months in custody, suspended for two years.
She was also ordered to pay £250 prosecution costs along with the fine and compensation, at a rate of £10 per week deducted from benefits. Radcliffe was also fined £200 for a separate offence of being drunk and disorderly, committed while she was on bail for the police assaults.
Mr Brooks also banned her from licensed premises for six months and ordered her to pay £250 compensation to each of two officers. She was also made the subject of a two-year suspended sentence supervision order.
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