A Darlington woman who assaulted a police officer has escaped with a £50 fine – despite breaching a suspended sentence handed to her for assaulting a further two emergency staff last year.

Shawna Marie Cottrell-Kelly, 31, of Zetland Street, Darlington, appeared at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on Friday (July 1) accused of assaulting PC 9135 Straughan in Darlington on April 7 this year.

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In court documents, Cottrell-Kelly was also charged with ‘Commission of a further offence during the operational period of a suspended sentence order’, which saw County Durham and Darlington Magistrates Court hand her a 16-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months in June 2021 after assaulting two other emergency workers.

In court on Friday, she pleaded guilty to the common assault on the emergency worker and admitted a breach of the suspended sentence.

She was ordered to pay compensation of £50, given 20 days of rehabilitation sessions, with the court also calling for her 18-month suspended sentence to be extended to 24 months.

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