Grieving Warsop man ‘got blind drunk and bit cop’ before assaulting his partner

Dale Pickering was ‘drunk and vocal’ when police arrived at his father's home in Church Warsop, after reports of a domestic dispute, on February 13, 2020, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

Rebecca Coleman, prosecuting, said that in the back of the police car, Pickering asked officers to remove his handcuffs so he could fight them and tried to butt one.

After several attempts, he succeeded in sinking his teeth into an officer’s hand, causing it to bleed and leading to a week of antibiotics.

The court heard Pickering was on bail for that offence when he flew into a rage with his then-girlfriend after she challenged him about his drinking.

He grabbed her around the throat so hard she was unable to breath and her necklace broke, before shoving her into kitchen units and hurling her to the floor.

After he damaged her garden fence, she sought refuge in a neighbour's home, but Pickering followed her and shoved the neighbour six times in his own home.

He returned to her home on April 22, 2022, when he tore off her number plates, and again three days later, when he damaged garden lights.

Pickering, aged 34, of Bishop’s Walk, Church Warsop, admitted assaulting an emergency worker, assault causing actual bodily harm and three counts of criminal damage.

The court heard he has eight previous convictions for 19 offences and has been jailed twice, most recently receiving 20 weeks for spitting on a paramedic, in May 2020.

Digby Johnson, mitigating, said Pickering was devastated by the deaths of his brother and mother.

He said: “If he is able to get used to being in the community without drinking, there must be a decent chance of him going forward without the crutch of alcohol.”

Sentencing, Mr Recorder Micheal Auty QC said: “I have sympathy for someone who has suffered bereavements, but they don’t go out and get drunk and hit police officers, or the person who has tried to help them.”

Pickering was jailed for 15 months, suspended for two years, and ordered to attend a building better relationships programme, 30 rehabilitation days and a 120-day alcohol abstinence course.