Woman attacked gay police officer while screaming obscene homophobic abuse during a drunken shopping trip to Aldi
Aldi’s allyship training forms part of its ‘Embrace’ Diversity and Inclusion strategy. (Matt Cardy/Getty)
A Bristol woman repeatedly kicked and screamed homophobic abuse at a gay police officer as she was shopping while drunk in Aldi, a court heard.
Appeared in Bristol Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, Samantha Beck, 34, admitted to attacking the officer in Church Road’s Aldi supermarket in November of last year.
Prosecutor Laura Opie told the court Beck repeatedly kicked the man and tried to head butt him while drunkenly yelling abuse. She used an obscene homophobic term against the officer, who is openly gay.
According to BristolLive she also shouted: “You f**king little c**ts” and “You r****ds.”
Beck pleaded guilty to the assault and the use of abusive words against the officer. Her criminal record includes a previous conviction involving alcohol, and her defence stressed that alcohol was an influencing factor in the latest incident too.
“This was a sustained assault with a shod foot. Ms Beck was last sentenced in 2017,” said Steve George, defending. “That was when she was made subject to a community order with a suspended sentence and an alcohol treatment requirement.
“Ms Beck was heavily under the influence of alcohol in this case. An alcohol treatment programme may be an option again, because it appears to have kept her out of trouble for three years.”
A pre-sentence report will be made to determine whether another alcohol treatment requirement is suitable for her, as it was three years ago.
The case has been adjourned and sentencing is due to take place at the same court on 8 September.
Assault on a police constable in execution of their duty is punishable by a fine or up to six months in prison. However, Beck may face a harsher penalty if a judge finds that the offence was “motivated by, or demonstrating, hostility to the victim based on his or her sexual orientation (or presumed sexual orientation)”.
