A DRUNKEN woman with a long history of assaulting police attacked three officers biting one in the arm and punched a female officer in the face, a court heard.

A DRUNKEN woman with a long history of assaulting police attacked three officers biting one in the arm and punched a female officer in the face, a court heard.

Lynne Barton, 43, attacked officers in Great Yarmouth after she was involved in a disturbance at a kebab house where she made abusive remarks to the owners hitting one man with a dog lead and damaging a car causing £1,000 worth of damage, Norwich Crown Court heard.

Malcolm Robins, prosecuting, said Barton refused to co-operate with police when they arrested her and had bitten PC Gavin Lynch on the arm and had grabbed another officer in the groin as well as trying to bite other officers.

When at the police station and put in the cells Barton punched policewoman Sharon Godbolt in the jaw and then tripped her up so she fell on the floor. Barton then continued to punch the policewoman in the chest causing her necklace to fall off. Barton of no fixed address admitted affray and admitted common assault on two police officers and causing actual bodily harm to PC Lynch.

The court heard she had five previous convictions for attacking police officers. Jailing her for nine months Judge Paul Downes told her: “You cannot behave in this way and get away with it.”

He said police officers and kebab shop owners were vulnerable as they often had to deal with people in drink such as her. He said her behaviour was not to be tolerated by the court. “Imprisonment is the only sentence for the kind of behaviour you exhibit.”

Ian James, mitigating, said Barton had drunk on top of her medication. “She is a woman who over the years has had more than her fair share of difficulty.”