A WOMAN from Llangurig who kicked a police officer after he found her asleep at the wheel of a parked car has escaped jail.

Tasmin Hilditch lashed out at the officer and refused to undertake a breath test. Mold Crown Court heard she was still under a suspended sentence at the time the offences were committed in September last year.

But Judge Rhys Rowlands chose not to activate the sentence after hearing of her circumstances and issued her with a curfew and an eight-week prison sentence which he suspended for 12 months.

Prosecutor Jo Maxwell told the court that police officers were called to Lon Eithin in Trehafren, Newtown and found Hilditch in the car.

There was a smell of alcohol in the vehicle and she was in possession of the car keys. But after asking one of the officers to reach for a bottle of water for her she kicked him in the knee “causing a sharp pain”.

She continued to be obstructive after her arrest and refused to give a sample of breath, said the prosecutor.

Hilditch said she was on her way to visit a friend and had stopped to buy alcohol.

“She said she was larking about and she was sorry,” said Ms Maxwell.

Hilditch, 35, of Glangwy, Llangurig, Powys admitted assaulting a police officer and failing to provide a specimen of breath both on September 16 last year.

The court heard she had problems with alcohol and had been drinking again that evening, becoming unsettled by the manner in which another person had spoken to her.

Defence barrister Gareth Roberts said: “She has been homeless, living in a tent and she is finally getting her life back on track. She is hopeful of providing a new home for her two sons in Bishops Castle.”

The judge also banned Hilditch from driving for two years and told her to pay a victim surcharge of £115.