The ex-girlfriend of a 'jet-ski Romeo' was spared jail after kicking a police officer in the head.
Jessica Marguerita Radcliffe, 32, who was previously in a relationship with a man who said he'd jet-skied to the Isle of Man from Scotland to be with her during lockdown, was also banned from pubs after pleading guilty to being drunk and disorderly. Radcliffe hit the headlines in December 2020 when her lover Dale McLaughlan made a treacherous 25-mile voyage in a desperate effort to see her during lockdown.
She said at the time she planned to marry McLaughlan, but the pair have reportedly since split up. She had to be restrained using Pava spray after struggling with the police officers as they tried to put her in a police van, and spat in one officer's face and kicked another.
Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told the court that police went to Radcliffe's home in Douglas, Isle of Man, on April 24 on an unrelated matter which was not pursued. She was in the garden at the time and as she was arrested she pushed one officer.
Radcliffe was put in handcuffs and taken to a police van but then became aggressive, refusing to get in the van and pushing an officer again. She was said to be shouting and swearing as she used her legs to block the van door being closed, which resulted in her being Pava sprayed to restrain her.
Radcliffe kicked out at one officer, catching him in the face, then spat in the face of another officer and dug her nails into his arm, swore, and made an imaginative threat that we have decided not to repeat here. During an interview at police headquarters, Radcliffe said that police had been hurting her arms and she kept asking them to get off her, but then said she lost her temper.
She denied any assaults and said she had just sat on the van bumper as she wanted a minute to calm down. Radcliffe said that, since going to prison, she had an issue with people touching her arms.
She told police: "I'm the one that's been assaulted. Have you seen my arms?"
In court, she pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a police officer, three counts of obstructing police, and one of threatening behaviour. On May 7, police were on patrol in Regent Street in Douglas at 12.40am when they came across Radcliffe involved in an altercation with another woman.
Radcliffe was swearing and shouting 'I'll kill you' as she attempted to grab the other woman. She was said to be smelling of alcohol and had glazed eyes.
Officers tried to calm her down but she refused and then tried to punch the other woman. She was subsequently arrested and made no reply after caution.
At the Deputy High Bailiff's Court in the Isle of Man Courts of Justice, she pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly. Defence advocate Louise Cooil handed in letters of reference for her client as well as a letter from Radcliffe herself, and urged the court to follow the recommendation of a probation report, for a suspended sentence supervision order.
Ms Cooil said that all the April offences had stemmed from the same circumstances, when police had attended Radcliffe's address to arrest her for matters which came to nothing. Radcliffe claimed that this had arisen because of a malicious complaint made about her.
Ms Cooil said that her client suffered from anxiety and a doctor had indicated a potential post-traumatic stress diagnosis. The advocate said that the kick in the face had been reckless rather than deliberate.
Mr Brooks told Radcliffe: "I hope the work you undertake with probation will ensure an offence-free life in the future, but ultimately that's not their job, that's your job." Deputy High Bailiff Mr Brooks sentenced Radcliffe to six months in custody, suspended for two years.
She was also ordered to pay £250 prosecution costs along with the fine and compensation, at a rate of £10 per week deducted from benefits. Radcliffe was also fined £200 for a separate offence of being drunk and disorderly, committed while she was on bail for the police assaults.
Mr Brooks also banned her from licensed premises for six months and ordered her to pay £250 compensation to each of two officers. She was also made the subject of a two-year suspended sentence supervision order.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - sign up to our daily newsletter here.
