A senior carer at a Perthshire nursing home attacked a police officer as she was arrested for attending an illegal lockdown party.
Michelle Hayburn went to the illicit gathering in Perth after finishing an exhausting 15-hour shift at Glencairn House, Auchterarder, in June 2020.
It was just weeks after the country ground to a halt under strict Covid-19 restrictions.
The 46-year-old fell asleep after drinking two bottles of wine and was woken by police officers the following morning.
Perth Sheriff Court heard she flew into a drunken rage and threatened to kill constables as they arrested her partner Thomas Kinnaird.
Hayburn later kicked PC Mathew Thomson as she was held at the charge bar at Dundee police station.
Following a one-day trial, Hayburn was found guilty of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, assaulting a police officer and breaching coronavirus regulations by “leaving the place where she was living without reasonable excuse.”
But Sheriff William Wood told her she would not be punished, partly because of the “huge debt of gratitude the country owes people like you”.
Threats to kill police
The trial heard police were called to reports of loud music a flat in the city’s Florence Court at around 8.20am on June 1, 2020.
PC Douglas Telford said Hayburn and Kinnaird were among four people at the gathering.
He said they both repeatedly refused to leave.
“Mr Kinnaird became verbally hostile.
“Ms Hayburn was becoming more and more angry. She said she didn’t have to leave.”
PC Telford said outside the flat, the couple – who are from High Street, Auchterarder – continued to shout, swear and made threats to kill officers.
The court was shown CCTV of Hayburn assaulting PC Thomson while handcuffed at the charge bar.
She repeatedly shouted “you’re hurting me” and “stop grabbing me.”
Out of character
Giving evidence, Hayburn agreed with prosecutor Stuart Hamilton that as a senior care worker of 25 years she would have been “better placed than most” to know about Covid regulations.
She said she acted out of character because she was exhausted from work and had been drinking.
She told the court she could not remember assaulting PC Thomson.
Sheriff Wood found her guilty, saying he preferred the police officers’ evidence.
Kinnaird, 52, pled guilty to breaching Covid laws and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
He told the court: “Judge, I take full responsibility for this.”
Solicitor David Holmes suggested an absolute discharge for Hayburn, who has no criminal history and has stayed out of trouble since the offence.
Show of gratitude
Sheriff Wood said: “Those who worked in care homes around that time were among the most self-sacrificing people.
“But equally police officers have a duty to enforce the law in a sensible way.”
He added: “That this should have come to court at all is one of the great tragedies of your life, Ms Hayburn.
“It was all so avoidable. Police officers went out of their way not to make any arrests but they found themselves in a position where there was no other option to keep people safe.”
Sheriff Wood fined Kinnaird £1,100.
“This was unnecessary,” he told him.
“This was a time of heightened alert and you decided not only to endanger yourself but also police officers and anyone else you came into contact with.
“These are serious charges.
“I take into account this case is now three years old.
“Had it been dealt with at the time, you may have been sentenced to a period of custody.”
He told Hayburn: “You are in a different situation and my decision on how this ought to be sentenced is very swayed by the huge debt of gratitude that the country owes people like you, who worked so selflessly throughout the pandemic.
“I don’t intend to impose any further penalty.
“You will be admonished in respect of all charges.”
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