A woman charged with assaulting two police officers has been cleared of wrongdoing. Now she is urging police to have better training in handling people undergoing mental health difficulties as well as people of colour.
Rebekah Smith, 25, was charged with attacks on two woman officers when they called on her flat in Pleasant House, Staple Hill, after a report she had taken an overdose. Bristol Crown Court heard Miss Smith bit and spat at the officers - but she told a jury the officers were heavy-handed and she acted in self-defence.
A jury of seven women and five men took just over six hours to acquit her of three charges of assaulting an emergency worker - relating to the two officers.
