A POLICEWOMAN was violently attacked and left concussed by a Winchcombe man who tried to stop her arresting his brother, a court was told.

William Randall’s brother was being arrested in Cheltenham after acting in an 'extremely violent manner' and was having to be restrained by officers when PC Sarah Crawford was assaulted, the prosecution said.

Prosecutor Peter Ashby told Cheltenham Magistrates: “Completely out of the blue, Randall appeared and approached the officers and demanded to know what was happening. He wanted to interfere.

“Randall was told that his brother was under arrest and he was told to go away. PC Crawford pushed him away and told him that he needed to back up. Randall asked again what was going on. He then tried to intervene.

“PC Crawford told him that she would talk to him away from the scene of the incident. Randall replied in an aggressive manner.

“He then tried to get closer to the officer, who used firm language to calm him down.

“Randall approached the officer again and she warned him that if he continued this way he would be joining his brother.

“Randall then clenched his fists and said, ‘What’s he done?’ while waving his arms in the air.

“Again the officer pushed him back he replied 'if you keep jabbing me, I’ll hit you' and demonstrated this by punching his right fist into the palm of his left hand," said Mr Ashby.

The court heard that Randall momentarily walked away, barging past the officer. PC Crawford grabbed him and he retaliated by pushing her back with two hands, swearing as he did so.

“PC Crawford then arrested Randall for assaulting a police officer and whilst she was cautioning him he pushed her again, so much so that she fell to the floor," Mr Ashby said.

“After a brief moment she got up and he walked away. She drew her Taser and pointed it at him and shouted at him to get on the ground.

"Initially he complied and she tried to physically restrain him because she had no handcuffs and he then started wrestling with her and refused to put his hands behind his back.

“He threw his head back towards her, hitting her on the chin and forcing her head back so it connected with a car which was parked behind them.

“Other officers then arrived on the scene to help with the handcuffing of Randall. He then tried to stand up in a move that threw PC Crawford aside, smashing her head twice on another vehicle’s wheel arch.

“This was a violent affair."

The court heard that Randall later told police he was affected by the 'red mist' as a result of taking the heroin substitute methadone.

"In her statement PC Crawford said that it was an unprovoked attack and said that Randall had multiple opportunities to leave the scene of the incident," said Mr Ashby.

“She says when she was knocked to the ground it was without warning. She was still suffering from headaches and back ache days after the incident, which required her to be taken to hospital by ambulance as she was diagnosed with concussion.”

The court was told that PC Crawford had to take two days off work to recover.

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Randall, 39, of Abbots Leys Road, Winchcombe, pleaded guilty to assault of an emergency worker on November 20, 2019.

Guy Percival, defending, said: “Randall doesn’t accept the version of events portrayed by the prosecution.

“He got involved because he was concerned because his brother was face down on the ground when he was being arrested. Randall also claims he himself was punched in the back of his head when he tried to intervene.

“He admits being abusive to PC Crawford but insists he did not punch her.

“However he does accept that it was a sustained incident which has resulted with the officer being injured by hitting herself on the vehicles.”

The justices said that there was a substantial difference between the prosecution’s account of the incident and the defendant’s version of events so there would have to be a 'trial of issue' to determine the facts on April 1.

Randall was released on unconditional bail until that date. He will be sentenced after the magistrates have ruled on which version of events they accept.