The Durham Constabulary officer was doing her weekly shop with her partner, also an off-duty police officer, in Stanley’s Asda store in July 2021 when the pair witnessed an incident at one of the tills.
Moments earlier, Brittany Shea had become abusive and punched the cashier in the head.
Identifying themselves to be off-duty officers, the pair managed to detain Shea by sitting her back down on her mobility scooter and tried to calm the situation whilst other members of staff helped the victim and called 999.
However, the 26-year-old became abusive once more and bit both officers, who nevertheless held on until uniformed officers arrived. Both required hospital treatment for their injuries and have been left with permanent scars.
At Peterlee Magistrates’ Court (May 2), the officer told District Judge Steven Hood how the disfigurement was something she had to look at every day and would be for the rest of her life.
Shea, who also refers to herself as Amoshett Mullins, was arrested and later charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of assault. She pleaded guilty to all three offences.
Judge Hood praised the officers for their actions to protect the public that day. He said: “Police officers are never off duty, as it’s said.”
After listening to her mitigation, Judge Hood handed her the maximum community order he could impose of two years with 40 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement Days and 130 hours’ unpaid work.
Shea, of Bramwell Street, Kettering, Northamptonshire, was also ordered to pay £400 in compensation to each of the officers.
“I cannot emphasise enough how close you were to a custodial sentence,” he said.
