A DRUNK man kicked a police officer in the head after fighting outside a pub and jumping onto the bonnet of a moving car.

Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court heard that Kane Sams, 29, had been drinking lager and taking cocaine during his grandmother’s wake before a fight took place on the road outside.

Oriana Frame, prosecuting, said Sams lashed out at drivers trying to pass through, punching and kicking the windscreen of two cars.

She said: "One witness was driving past the Phoenix Club where a fight was going on between two men and two women.

“One of the men lifted his right leg up and began kicking the car whilst screaming and shouting, after this a man came over to stop him and began screaming and shouting at him.

“She said ‘he was just going wild, he can’t be going on like that’ and describes her vehicle as having a damaged windscreen and being covered in mud.”

Another witness said in a statement: “At approximately 6.45pm on November 29 I was driving along Greenwell Road when I noticed two males fighting in the middle of the road. People were blocking the road and straight away I noticed a man coming towards the car.

“He jumped onto the bonnet and began punching the window with both fists. I accelerated and the man rolled off and continued to fight with the male.”

Ms Frame added: “Police responded and could see a large amount of people outside the club. The defendant shouted f*** off at police a number of times and as officers made attempts to detain him he kicked a police officer in the head.

“The defendant was carried to the police vehicle in handcuffs and leg restraints had to be used.”

A report from probation said Sams was struggling with the death of his grandmother who he had lived with for twenty years.

She said: “He has no memory of the events but he accepts responsibility for them and says it is something he is likely to have done.”

Sams, of Ashfield, Newton Aycliffe, pleaded guilty to two charges of criminal damage, one charge of assaulting an emergency worker and one count of possession of a Class A drug on Friday, November 29.

Magistrates sentenced him to an 18 month community ordered £1,080 compensation.