![\"Maeve](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_BHR_LEC_160426_MAEVE-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMaeve Halford had been “drinking uncontrollably” and taking drugs on the day of the incident<\/p>\n
Maeve Halford, 41, of Well Brow Road<\/p>\n
A woman kicked her dog in the street before shouting at a police officer and scratching him, causing him psychological damage, a court heard. Maeve Halford was seen shouting at and kicking her French Bulldog called Callie after she ran into the street following a day of “drinking uncontrollably” and taking illicit drugs on August 6 last year.<\/p>\n
Liverpool Magistrates’ Court<\/a> heard today, April 16, how the incident took place at her home on Well Brow Road in Walton<\/a>, with police being called to the address after the incident involving Callie. She was arrested and taken to Whiston Hospital<\/a> for assessment.<\/p>\n Christian Cooper, prosecuting, told the court how Halford, 41, was given warnings by officers about her behaviour before shouting: “I don’t give a f***”. She then told the officers they were “f*****g […] b******s” before being further arrested at the hospital for using threatening and abusive words likely to cause harm and distress.<\/p>\n Mr Cooper continued to explain how Halford was reported to have tried to escape the hospital several times before attempting to punch PC Williams.<\/p>\n After PC Williams caught her attempted punch, she then scratched the officer’s right arm with what were described as “long, fake nails”, drawing blood from his arm.<\/p>\n The officer was distressed, the court heard, due to her previously having blood on her hands, with PC Williams worried about contracting a disease as a result.<\/p>\n She was further arrested for assaulting a police constable. When interviewed by officers, Halford denied the offences, but pleaded guilty at the first opportunity when appearing in court at an earlier date.<\/p>\n Clare Roche, defending, told the court: “In terms of the dog matter she tells me because of trauma she has received in adult life and some in younger years she took to alcohol, she took to drugs.<\/p>\n “She came over from Ireland three years ago to flee a relationship and ended up in a relationship that was just as bad for her.”<\/p>\n Ms Roche explained how Halford, who has no previous convictions, was “heartbroken and heartwrenched” her behaviour resulted in her dog being taken from her and put in the care of her friends.<\/p>\n While not disputing the facts of the case, Ms Roche told the court how her client remembered shouting but not kicking her dog. Despite kicking the animal, Callie did not suffer any injuries and a recent vet report concluded she was healthy.<\/p>\n The court also heard how Halford’s behaviour went from “nought to 100” as she “kicked out” at the officer. Ms Roche continued: “Prior to this outburst she was of good character. From day one of release she has gone to recovery.”<\/p>\n Halford was said to have been in recovery since her arrest and has passed every urine test for alcohol and drugs since.<\/p>\n Ms Roche said: “The dog is part of the defendent’s recovery, the dog is a companion and friend, I would urge you not to issue [a banning] order. She was comfortable and thriving in the care of the defendent until this occasion.”<\/p>\n Mr Cooper added: “The crown are of the view that the defendent’s animal is healthy and not injured as a result of his matter. We would not seek a banning order.”<\/p>\n Handing down her judgement, magistrate Emma Logu explained to Halford she had taken “considerable time” to read the pre-sentencing report and took the decision not to hand her an order banning her from owning a dog.<\/p>\n Maeve Halford, 41, of Well Brow Road in Walton, was handed a 12 month community order with 20 rehabilitation days. She was also ordered to pay \u00a3100 compansation to the officer, a victim surcharge of \u00a3114, a \u00a3120 fine and \u00a385 in costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maeve Halford had been “drinking uncontrollably” and taking drugs on the day of the incident Maeve Halford, 41,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,54,1115,61,60,117122],"class_list":{"0":"post-404702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-courts","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-walton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}