A WOMAN who dropped a toddler face first on to the ground while drunk before throwing a punch at a PC who went to help her has appeared in court

A WOMAN who dropped a toddler face first on to the ground while drunk before throwing a punch at a PC who went to help her has appeared in court.Police were called by passers-by who saw Mandy Davis-Jones, of Bristol Road Lower, drop a child on his head while crossing Farm Road on September 29, 2006.The child was strapped into a car seat, which was then perched on top of a Maclaren sit-up buggy, but the seat did not fit neatly into the pushchair and the child fell when Davis-Jones mounted the kerb. The 44-year-old pleaded guilty to the charge of being drunk in charge of a child under seven years old, and was subsequently found guilty by magistrates of taking a swipe at one female officer and kicking another. Passer-by Alison Adams, giving evidence to North Somerset Courthouse in St Georges, said: "When she was crossing the road I saw the car seat fall between the kerb and the pavement.I was concerned for them both so I wound down my car window and said 'Are you alright?'""The child was crying, upset and had a graze on his head which must have come from the fall."Police were called after a second passer-by, Sarah Tucker, spoke to the first witness and decided they had to do something 'for the child's safety'.PCs Stacy Sutton and Nikki Adams, of Avon & Somerset Constabulary, attended the scene, which by now had moved to Upper Bristol Road.Giving evidence, PC Sutton said: "The lady seemed to be drunk and seemed to be unsteady on her feet. "She was swearing and shouting at me and did not want my help."I did not know why she was swearing as I was just trying to help her with her child. "We had received information that the child had been dropped."Davis-Jones, who appeared in court wearing a floor length purple skirt and a white jumper, admitted when questioned by Philip Robbins, prosecuting, that the child had fallen 'face first' to the ground. The court heard that after making contact with Davis-Jones, PC Sutton walked a couple of metres away from the defendant leaving her with PC Adams.PC Sutton explained: "The lady went to pick up the child but she was drunk and we did not believe she could look after the child."PC Adams intervened and stopped her picking up the child."It was then that the first assault occurred. PC Sutton continued: "It looked like she hit PC Adams in the face."PC Adams said: "In my opinion she was drunk and did not make a lot of sense."The two PCs described how they brought Davis-Jones to the ground in a 'controlled manner'. While on the ground she continued to resist their attempts to place her in handcuffs and kicked PC Sutton, in the second assault on her would-be helpers.St John Napier, defending, said that Davis-Jones was the victim of heavy handed tactics used by the police and handed round the court photographs of bruising on Davis-Jones taken by a police photographer after her arrest.Chairman of the bench, David Cook, in summing up, said: "We find you guilty. You took a swipe at one officer and you recklessly kicked another."Your injuries were caused by you resisting the officers."He also warned her that assaults on police officers are normally dealt with by a custodial sentence.Davis-Jones was released on conditional bail and will be sentenced on June 1.