A WOMAN spat and swore at a police officer after being arrested, a court heard.

Tara Ann Green, of Leather Lane in Ulverston, became agitated when officers carried out routine custody procedures at Barrow Police station after she had been arrested on August 16 this year.

Prosecutor Hannah Forsyth told Preston Crown Court the 53-year-old swore at PC Swidenbank and then spat on her face when she was being searched.

The court heard that one of Green’s nine previous convictions was for behaving violently in a police station.

READ MORE HERE: Ulverston woman sentenced for 'violent behaviour' at police station

The defendant was also sentenced for theft from a domestic dwelling.

The court heard the charge related to the defendant stealing an iPhone from a friend of her mother’s while she was asleep on August 2 last year.

Miss Forsyth said: “The defendant would often go into the victim’s house and ask for food and drink, but she was frequently asked to leave.”

The court heard the victim tracked the phone to Dalton Road in Barrow at 3pm on August 3 and could see it travelling to different locations.

The defendant was arrested at 22:52 pm at her home address where the phone was eventually located in a flower bed below her bedroom window, the court heard.

In mitigation, Nicola Carroll said: “She has developed mental health problems, which leads her to believe her life is in danger when an ordinary person may not perceive that threat.

 “When she took the phone, she did so as she felt in genuine peril. However, she admits she deprived the owner of its use.

“She suffers from fibromyalgia and osteoporosis and has been remanded into custody since August 23. She now has a clearer mind, regrets her behaviour and is remorseful for what she has done.

“She is on £570 per month from universal credit and PIP payments but her financial position is quite bleak.”

The court heard the defendant was on police bail for the theft offence at the time when she assaulted the emergency worker.

Sentencing the defendant to a 12-month community order, 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days and a five-year restraining order, Her Honour Judge Sarah O’Brien said: “You were of positive good character prior to your 50th birthday, but a deterioration in your mental health has led to this pattern of offending emerging.

“There are exceptional circumstances not to impose a punitive element in your case. The last thing I want to do is put you in more danger of committing another offence.”

The case was adjourned until February 9 2024 to consider the imposition of a criminal behaviour order.