A 41-year-old Ipswich woman who grabbed a police officer’s Taser and threatened him with it has been given a community order.

Natasha Hammond was in a hospital cubicle when she assaulted the officer and was given an injection by medical staff to calm her down, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

On another occasion while Hammond was a patient in the Woodlands Mental Health unit in Ipswich, she had grabbed a care assistant’s hair.

Later the same day she had swung her leg and struck a female police officer on the knee while she was in police custody, said Peter Pride, prosecuting at the court.

Hammond, of Stoke Park Drive, Ipswich, admitted possessing a prohibited weapon in May last year and two offences of assaulting an emergency worker in July last year.

She was given a three-year community order with a 60-day rehabilitation order.

The court heard that Hammond had been in custody for a year which was the equivalent of a two-year prison sentence.