Officer left with broken hand as woman lashed out while being searched
SHE ‘FLAILED’ AROUND IN CUSTODY
A Bad-tempered woman with a history of crack cocaine use and a “chaotic” lifestyle angrily lashed out at police and left a female officer with a fractured hand after aggressively “flailing” around while in custody.
Catherine Van Eijk became violent during a search and she kicked and punched the policewoman during the nasty confrontation. She had “gone off the rails” and had a long list of previous convictions, Hull Crown Court heard.
Van Eijk, 40, of Sapphire Grove, off St George’s Road, west Hull, admitted breaching a 15-month suspended prison sentence that had been imposed on December 8 for assaulting a policewoman causing actual bodily harm, assaulting a police detention officer as an emergency worker and using racially aggravated threatening words or behaviour.
The original hearing was told that Van Eijk was taken to the custody suite at Clough Road police station, Hull, on August 27 last year after she was arrested on other matters. She became volatile and aggressive and she seemed to be under the influence of drugs.
The police thought that she was concealing something and she was strip searched. She became violent and aggressive and she had to be physically restrained.
Van Eijk was “flailing around with her arms” and she kicked a female police officer and punched her twice to her arm. The officer suffered a fracture to her hand and tissue damage to her shoulder and arm. She suffered ongoing pain and could not work for some time. She could not carry out day to day duties and a pre-existing hand condition was made worse.
A female detention officer was assisting and Van Eijk hit out at her to her hand a number of times but did not cause any injuries, the court heard.
Van Eijk was put into a cell by a female officer but she hurled racist abuse at her.
At the time, Van Eijk had convictions for 57 previous offences between 2002 and last year, including for dishonesty, drugs, obstructing police, motoring offences and numerous breaches of court orders.
At a resumed hearing, Van Eijk was brought before the court after admitting breaching the 15-month suspended prison sentence, which had a condition of 35 days’ rehabilitation. Van Eijk admitted that, at the time of the assaults, she felt “very pressured by the situation” that she was in during the search of her by police.
“I didn’t feel very respected in the situation,” she said. Van Eijk admitted that she had previously taken drugs. “My problem was crack cocaine,” she said. Van Eijk said she was now off drugs.
She admitted that she had previously lived a “chaotic” lifestyle. “It used to be chaotic,” she said. “It has been very chaotic.” She admitted that she had previously “gone off the rails” but was now “a bit more productive” and was doing an Open University course.
Judge Mark Bury told Van Eijk: “The good news is that you haven’t committed any more offences. I am not going to activate the suspended sentence.
“It involves you making a bit more effort with probation than you have up to now. You do need to make that effort. The probation service are there to help.”
The original order that was made when the suspended sentence was imposed in December was allowed to continue, with two more rehabilitation days added.