Katherine Johnson: Mum found guilty of biting police officer in ‘scuffle’

Footage of a young mum’s savage attack on a police officer has been played to a court, revealing the moment she lunged forward with her mouth open and teeth “primed to bite”.

An Ipswich police officer has told a court of the distressing moment a woman lunged towards him, latched her teeth on his arm and clamped them together while being placed under arrest.

Mum-of-three Katherine Hannah Johnson, 24, fronted Ipswich Magistrates Court on Wednesday, August 24 and pleaded not guilty to one count of seriously assaulting a police officer by biting on December 24, 2019.

The victim of the assault, senior constable at the Yamanto Police Station Trent Forster, told the court of what he remembered from the evening in question during cross-examination.

He explained he was working a 10pm to 6am shift when, about 12.42am, he was called to an address at Leichhardt where a wake had gotten out of hand.

Upon arrival, he said he observed many intoxicated people spilling from a house onto the street and being “quite hostile” towards police.

Snr Cnst Forster said he was at the address for about 40 minutes, trying to calm the partygoers down and help them into Ubers and taxis and away from the address.

He explained one of his female colleagues was attempting to arrest Johnson for obstructing her arrest of another person. He said she was “violently thrashing or resisting”.

Snr Cnst Forster told the court he reminded Johnson of why she had been arrested and asked her to get on the ground, but she declined and was subsequently “placed” down while “still thrashing”.

He recalled there being a “scuffle” where she managed to raise herself up onto her knees and face him before lunging toward him with an open mouth.

He said he felt her teeth latch onto his “wrist-forearm area” and clamp together, causing him “pain and discomfort”.

Snr Cnst Forster pulled his arm away “instinctively”, which he said prevented him from suffering bodily harm.

Body-worn camera footage of the incident was played to the court and showed the senior constable grabbing Johnson’s hair and shouting that he had been bitten.

With the assistance of a number of other police officers, Johnson was restrained and handcuffed and taken to Ipswich Watchhouse.

Katherine Hannah Johnson, 24. Picture: Facebook

During cross-examination on Wednesday, defence solicitor Patrick O’Donnell asked Snr Cnst Forster if it was possible Johnson’s mouth ‘incidentally’ hit his arm. He said it was not.

The female police officer Snr Cnst Forster was assisting just prior to the offending told the court she heard him exclaim something along the lines of “I’ve been bitten”.

When questioned by Mr O’Donnell about whether Johnson could have been acting out of self defence, she said that was not her understanding of what transpired.

Taking the stand herself, Johnson said she remembered her family members – the other people present at the time of the offence – were intoxicated and she was trying to stop her little brother from doing anything “stupid”.

She said she had consumed “not even a 10-pack” of rum between about 5.30pm and when police arrived, describing the state she was in as “tipsy”.

She told the court she could recall there being a “scuffle” during which Snr Cnst Forster’s arm “caught” her mouth.

“That’s when he thinks that I’ve bitten him,” she said.

“I know for a fact that I did not go down to bite his hand.”

She said she suffered marks on her face, back, and shoulders following the incident.

Magistrate Robert Walker noted the body-worn camera footage played to the court showed Johnson lunging in the direction of Snr Cnst Forster with her mouth open, lips pulled back, and teeth “primed to intentionally bite”.

He found it had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Johnson bit the police officer, convicting her of serious assault and noting the evidence she offered the court was less confident and clear than that of the other witnesses who testified.

The young woman subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of obstructing police officers, with one relating to Snr Cnst Forster and the other to the female police officer involved.

Prosecutor Sergeant Bernard Elmore described the biting offence as “disgusting”, but acknowledged she had apologised to the relevant police officers in court which was mitigating.

Mr Walker sentenced the young mum to 12 months’ probation. Convictions were not recorded.