A woman who kicked a Garda and attempted to head-butt him has avoided being sent to prison.
Michaela Shields was brought before a special sitting of Letterkenny District Court on Sunday following the incident in the early hours of the morning.
Shields was handed a three-month suspended sentence.
Shields was an occupant in a car that was stopped at the Dry Arch Filling Station at 12.35am on Sunday.
The 34-year-old, of Circular Road, Derry, was arrested on foot of an active bench warrant when she identified herself to Garda Mooney.
Evidence of arrest, charge and caution was given by way of schedule.
Sergeant Jim Collins told the court that Shields became verbally aggressive to Gardai. Shields struggled and resisted arrest, the court heard.
When Garda Mooney placed Shields in the patrol car, she began shouting and kicked him in twice in the stomach.
During the course of the journey to Letterkenny Garda Station, Sergeant Collins said Shields, who was said to be highly intoxicated, lunged and tried to headbutt the Garda while making threats.
Solicitor Mr Patsy Gallagher, representing Shields, said his client was with another person ‘who was not of any benefit to her in the overall picture’.
Mr Gallagher said Shields suffers from depression ‘and alcohol does her no favours’.
“She is deeply remorseful and apologises profusely to the Gardai,” Mr Gallagher said. “The last 12 hours in the cell in the Garda station have been a wake-up call for her. She had never been in a cell before.”
Shields was charged with resisting arrest, with being intoxicated in a public place and with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour in a public place.
Judge Ciaran Liddy said Shields had assaulted a Garda, although there was no charge of assault before the court. Sergeant Collins said it was accepted that a charge of resisting arrest was sufficient to deal with the matter.
“If it was an assault charge, she would be going to jail,” Judge Liddy said, adding that he had to mark the seriousness of the incident.
“Assaulting a member of An Garda Siochana is unacceptable,” he said.
Judge Liddy imposed a three-month prison sentence, the entirety of which he suspended for a period of two years.