Spitting Leeds woman told police she had hidden razor blades in her vagina

Winnie Josephine McDonagh made the comments from her cell at Elland Road Police Station after being arrested for unrelated matters.

After telling the officers she had the blades, she was put under close supervision but spent the night shouting abuse and threatening violence.

She was heard to shout: “I’m a pikey and and I’m going to cut your throats with these blades.”

She spat at four officers during her time in custody, with the spittle landing on the vest, hand and legs of three of them, while one was hit in the face and neck.

At one point she requested for a nurse and when the officer went to her cell, she spat at them.

The incident happened on September 26, 2020, and was at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, prosecutor Harry Crowson said.

She appeared via video link from HMP New Hall where she has been held on remand for two days for failing to turn up for court earlier this week.

McDonagh, of St Wilfred’s Avenue in Harehills, has 13 convictions for 24 offences, including multiple thefts, a robbery and an attempted robbery.

Mitigating, Michael Greenhalgh told the court: “Her life has some elements of chaos to it, but there are a number of positives.

"She has stayed out of trouble for two years and she now has her own accommodation.”

The judge, Recorder Andrew Haslam KC said: “Those police officers were there to do a job to look after you and supervise you, and you assaulted them.

"This country was in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic and the officers’ disgust is all too apparent.”

He said he recognised that she has an unstable personality disorder, and that she had addressed her drug addiction with a Subutex prescription, which helps combat heroin dependency.

He gave her a six-month jail term, suspended for 12 months and a three-month electronic tag curfew, which means she must remain at home between the hours of 8pm and 8am.