An amateur footballer overpowered two Dundee police officers and attacked them with their own pepper spray before trying to gouge out one of their eyes.
Reece Cuthbert, 25, was resisting arrest when he managed to grab the canister of spray from one of the officer’s body armour.
He sprayed it in their faces and continued brawling with them as the female officer hit him up to six times on the head and body with her baton.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard that her efforts had little impact as Cuthbert pinned down her male colleague and tried repeatedly to gouge out his eyeball.
Cuthbert, Fenella Terrace, Dundee, admitted assaulting and injuring PC Julie Donaldson by pushing her and discharging pepper spray into her face on September 22.
He also admitted attacking and injuring PC Andrew Nicol by pushing him, grabbing the canister from him and spraying him in the face during the incident in the city’s Haddington Avenue.
He admitted causing the officer to fall to the ground, and while he was on top of him, trying to gouge his eye.
Fiscal depute Stewart Duncan said Cuthbert was found by officers in the bin storage area of his mother’s home and he initially tried to run away.
One of the officers clipped his heel as he ran and all three eventually became involved in a brawl in the garden area, Mr Duncan said.
“Due to his strength and body position they could not get handcuffs on him. He overpowered the officer by grabbing his body armour.
“He was able to grab hold of the canister. He took off the safety cap, pressed the nozzle and sprayed it in both of their faces.
“PC Nicol managed to kick it out of his hand. Cuthbert continued to resist. He took hold of the officer’s glasses and tried to gouge his left eye.
“He was pushing his eyeball. PC Donaldson extended her baton and struck him twice to the back but it had no effect.
“The accused continued to pin PC Nicol on the ground and gouge his eye. The accused was struck three or four times on the head but they struggled to achieve an effective strike.”
Both officers suffered a number of bruising injuries as well as irritation from being exposed to the acidic spray.
Solicitor Paul Parker-Smith, defending, said his client had taken diazepam on the day in question and could remember very little about what he had done to the officers.
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael deferred sentence on Cuthbert and warned him that a prison sentence was “highly likely”.
