A Maidstone woman has been sentenced to a year in prison a day after kicking and spitting at police.

Officers were called to reports of a disturbance on Friday and arrived at the home of Karen Thompson in Lower Fant Road.

The 56-year-old refused to let them in, hurling abuse at them as well as a mobile phone from the window.

The police forced their way inside where Thompson tried to spit in one of their faces and bite the hand of another.

She was subsequently arrested for two counts of common assault of an emergency worker under the Assaults on Emergency Workers Act which came into force in November last year.

It created a new offence of assault against emergency workers - including police, paramedics, nurses and other blue light workers and provides tougher sentencing powers for judges.

Thompson also tried to kick them and the abuse continued while she was in custody, where she scratched an officer and deliberately urinated on the floor of the cell.

She appeared before Medway Magistrates Court on Saturday where she was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment which also activated a suspended sentence, imposed in August 2019 for similar offences.

Det Sgt Vicki Swift of the Maidstone vulnerable investigation team said: "Thompson’s behaviour was utterly abhorrent and unacceptable and it is pleasing to see the courts deliver the appropriate justice in such a swift manner.

"Any assaults on police are completely unacceptable and those who we suspect are responsible for abusing officers can expect to be charged with an offence that, as demonstrated in this instance, can carry serious penalties."

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