A 22-YEAR-OLD who attacked a States police officer and gave a false name when being interviewed at police headquarters has been jailed for three months.
Jay Wallace, from Falkirk in Scotland, was arrested hours after arriving in Jersey on 1 December.
Advocate Howard Tobias, prosecuting, told the Magistrate’s Court that the police had been called to St James’ Wine Bar, where Wallace was drunk and disorderly.
He said the defendant became “argumentative and aggressive” as officers tried to put him in the back of their van, lashing out and causing minor injuries to one.
He gave the false name of “Liam Drummond” when questioned, and tried to stop the police from taking his fingerprints.
The court also heard that he was already wanted for alleged offences in Scotland.
Advocate Greg Herold-Howes, defending, described Wallace as “a young man with a difficult background”, adding: “He is caught in a spiral of alcohol, violence and substance abuse and he wants out of that.”
The lawyer pointed out that Wallace had pleaded guilty to the charges of being drunk and disorderly, assaulting a police officer and attempting to pervert the course of justice by providing a false name.
However, Assistant Magistrate Adam Clarke said: “Assaulting a police officer is unacceptable and will ordinarily result in a custodial sentence.”
He sentenced Wallace to three months in prison for the assault and handed down another three-month sentence for perverting the course of justice, to run concurrently.
There was no separate penalty for being drunk and disorderly.
