A man who was already on bail for assaulting one police officer spat blood into a policewoman’s eye as he was being arrested following a dispute with his neighbours.
And Temisan Oritsejafor has been warned by a judge at Warwick Crown Court to expect ‘a significant custodial sentence’ – with consecutive jail terms for the two assaults.
Oritsejafor (41) of Vincent Wyles House, Wyken, Coventry, had pleaded guilty to common assault and two charges of common assault on emergency workers.
Prosecutor Mark Phillips said that on April 18 the police were called to Vincent Wyles House because of an altercation between Oritsejafor and his neighbour Alison Osborne.
The two officers asked to go into his flat to speak to him about what had happened, but Oritsejafor, who was on bail for a previous assault on a police officer, refused.
A male officer who believed he was being aggressive took him to the floor, and was assisted by a female colleague, Pc Napier, to restrain him.
“As they’re getting him up, he spits into the officer’s face. That is spit and blood, because he had had a bleeding nose earlier, and it catches her straight in the eye.”
Playing a CCTV recording of the incident, Mr Phillips observes: “She is clearly upset, and she’s very shaken indeed.”
But Justin Jarmola, defending, said: “I do not agree with all of that.
“There clearly had been an altercation between my client and the neighbour. He is listening at the door, and one of the neighbours makes a clear threat to stab my client.
“When the officers speak to him he says ‘you’re not coming in, I’ll come out’ – and he is then taken to the floor.”
And Mr Jarmola argued that there was ‘no blood visible’ when Oritsejafor opened the door to the officers.
But Mr Phillips countered: “The complainant Alison Osborne says that her son and the defendant got into an altercation, and the defendant had a nose bleed as a result of being hit by her son.”
Asking for the case to be adjourned for a psychiatric report to be prepared on Oritsejafor, Mr Jarmola explained: “My instructing solicitor was told at the police station that he suffers from schizophrenia and is bipolar.
“Without mental health difficulties he would be falling to be sentenced today, and there would be a deterrent sentence, but there is significant mitigation in his mental health.”
Agreeing to adjourn for the report, Judge Andrew Lockhart QC said: “He is charged with two assaults on emergency workers, one of them while on bail.
“He must understand the sentence will be one of significant custody. I will be minded to pass deterrent sentences, and the sentence for the second matter is likely to be consecutive.”
Oritsejafor, who was appearing via a video link from the prison, interjected: “You saw how the police pushed me to the ground. I didn’t mean to spit in her face.”
But remanding Oritsejafor in custody, the judge told him: “It is very likely you will be receiving a significant custodial sentence for these matters.”
