A WOMAN who tried to intervene when the police were trying to arrest her friend ended up being arrested herself after assaulting one of the officers.

Darcy Louise Phoenix was physically obstructive during the incident in Yeovil, which resulted in her grabbing the arm of a female officer. She later pushed her in an open doorway.

The 46-year-old defendant, of Etsome Terrace, Somerton, admitted a charge of assaulting an emergency worker, namely a police constable, acting in the exercise of her functions, by beating her on July 8.

Ben Winzar, prosecuting, said the police were called to attend an incident in Yeovil where Phoenix became obstructive to the officers conducting an arrest in relation to a friend of the defendant.

“She was given repeated opportunities to allow them to carry out their work  and an officer was standing in the way of her, preventing Phoenix from getting to the other officer carrying out the arrest,” he said.

“Phoenix then grabbed the officer by the forearm and was asked to let go but she didn’t for some time.

“Later the officer went outside of the property and the defendant came towards her and pushed her again.”

Phoenix also appeared before Somerset Magistrates at a separate hearing where she admitted failing to comply with a Section 35 dispersal notice which was made following an incident at Wetherspoons in Yeovil.

On June 28, police issued the dispersal notice at 9.15pm after reports that there were three females inside the pub who were refusing to leave.

Phoenix was issued with the notice, and she was taken out of Yeovil town centre where she was ordered not to return within the next 24 hours.

However the police were requested to return at 11.15pm after being informed by CCTV operators that the defendant was back inside the pub.

When they approached, she ran up through the town centre and was arrested for breaching the notice.

The court heard that Phoenix had a large number of previous convictions but had not been in trouble for the past nine years.

Defending, Greg Peters said that Phoenix had been happy to comply with the dispersal notice but when she left she realised her mobile phone was still with her friend.

“She was concerned that her friend was intoxicated and would lose the phone or leave it somewhere and she was worried as her life was on that phone,” he said.

“That’s the only reason she returned to town, to locate her friend, and was not inside the pub but was outside when the police attended.”

Sentencing on both matters was adjourned until a future date after the court heard Phoenix had other criminal allegations scheduled before the court.

Until then, she was given unconditional bail.