Woman kicked police officer trying to arrest her at Somerset festival

A woman who became involved in an incident with security staff at a Bruton festival then kicked a police officer who was trying to arrest her.

Sandra Alonso became upset when the officer put some handcuffs on her so tightly that they were cutting into her wrists.

She began to struggle violently and told him to loosen them, but when he told her to wait she lashed out and struck the back of his leg with her foot.

The 40-year-old defendant, of Clarendon Road, Bristol, appeared in the dock before Somerset Magistrates at Yeovil .

She pleaded guilty to a charge that on May 27 at Bruton she resisted a police constable acting in the execution of his duty.

The defendant had previously denied three different allegations of assaulting a woman and a police officer and using threatening behaviour during the incident.

However on the day of a scheduled trial she admitted the offence of resisting the police and all the other matters against her were withdrawn.

Prosecutor Stuart Sampson said that Alonso attended the Farm Festival at Gilcombe in Bruton and there was an incident that occurred where some of the security guards became involved.

“The police were called at around 7.20am and the defendant was struggling with the security team so one of the officers tried to calm her down,” he said.

Behind the scenes at court

“He held her left arm but she managed to pull it away so she was then arrested but started to complain about the handcuffs that had been put on her wrists saying they were too tight.

“He explained that if she stopped struggling then they would not hurt and he said he would unlock them when another officer arrived but she said she wanted them off straight away.

“Alonso then kicked the officer on the back of the leg and was arrested for assault.”

During interview she said she had been drinking all night and when asked about the assault on the officer she said the handcuffs had been put on her too tightly and she didn’t understand what she was being told.

She said she could not remember kicking him but said that if she did then she was terribly sorry.

Defending solicitor Michael Hartnell said that Alonso had been helping out at the festival and dealing with the tickets as people were coming onto the site.

“However she had been enjoying the event during the evening and there was then an incident where security guards became involved and they had an issue with my client,” he said.

“He said she suffered some deep bruising to her thigh, the back of her knee, both wrists and her left arm which were all caused before the police arrived,” he said.

“She had been taken to the floor by the security officers and ‘roughed up’ a bit, therefore when the police arrived she was not in the best of moods and was very upset at the way she had been handled.

“It was not a deliberate kick, but the contact was made during the struggle as she did not feel she had done anything wrong and that was why she was resisting the police so much because the handcuffs were too tight.”

He said that sadly Alonso had now lost her good character even though she raised monies for various charities including Amnesty International and the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

“It has had a very mortifying effect on her just being in court and she will not be here again,” he added.

The magistrates told Alonso that it had been an unfortunate situation and gave her a 12 month conditional discharge. They also ordered her to pay £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.