A 40-YEAR-OLD woman who indecently exposed herself, head-butted a police officer, threw Lucozade over another and was found carrying drugs has been detained under a treatment order on mental-health grounds.
The Magistrate’s Court heard that Paula Pereira Da Silva committed the offences last year – but had since been diagnosed with a mental illness.
Crown Advocate Luke Sette, prosecuting, said that on 14 March last year members of the public called an ambulance to come to the aid of Da Silva when she appeared unwell.
She admitted to paramedics that she had taken the class C drug ketamine. She was also found to be carrying cannabis.
On 10 August, he added, she visited a swimming pool in a hotel where she was not a guest.
Advocate Sette said Da Silva had her breasts exposed and that children in the area “had to be led away”.
“She was drinking from a bottle and flicking cigarette ash into the pool,” he added. Hotel staff called the police when she refused to leave, and she became aggressive and abusive.
On 23 September she was arrested on suspicion of malicious damage in a property and head-butted an officer, causing the officer’s lip to bleed.
And on 21 November, the advocate added, she threw Lucozade over another officer who approached her after she had been drinking in the town centre.
She was later interviewed by the States police.
Advocate Sette said: “She made no comment. Then, when she was shown the body-worn [camera] footage, she said: ‘I’m terribly sorry.’”
Advocate Sarah Dale, defending, said two doctors had diagnosed a mental disorder and recommended that Da Silva should be detained under a treatment order in a private establishment. She said: “Arrangements have already been made.”
Assistant Magistrate Adam Clarke agreed that the treatment order would suit best.
He added: “The court hopes that it will be successful and helps her going forward.”
