MAGISTRATES have fined a teenager who assaulted a police officer.

Jonathan Loudon, 18, of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was arrested after wrestling with a police officer who was trying to arrest another boy.

Officers had been called to an incident in Silverdale Place, Newton Aycliffe, where somebody had been injured.

As they were waiting for an ambulance, a crowd of about 20 people gathered, some drunk.

Police arrested a drunken man, at which point Loudon appeared, telling the officers to get off him. He ran into one officer's midriff and had to be forced to the ground where he was restrained by three officers using CS gas.

Loudon's solicitor, Bruce Cunningham, said the teenager had never been in trouble with police before and had been accepted into the Army and was about to join in a few weeks' time.

Mr Cunningham appealed to magistrates to fine Loudon, as a conditional discharge could affect his entry into the Army. He was fined £50 with £38 costs and warned to behave in future.