Tori Leigh Evans pleads guilty to spitting on three Mackay cops

A young mother will not have to spend any time behind bars after she spat on three regional police officers who were only trying to help. See why

Tori Leigh Evans pleaded guilty to spitting on three Mackay police officers on January 9, 2022.

A young Walkerston mother has been handed a jail sentence for spitting in the faces of three Mackay police officers who were helping escort her to hospital for treatment.

But Tori Leigh Evans won’t have to spend any time behind bars after her barrister successfully argued for a non custodial penalty.

Police were called to a Walkerston home on January 9, 2021 where paramedics had placed the then 20 year old under an emergent examination assessment order to take her to hospital for treatment.

Mackay District Court heard that while in the back of an ambulance, Evans was agitated and aggressive before spitting in the officer’s faces and they were trying to prevent her from harming herself.

Tori Leigh Evans pleaded guilty to spitting on three Mackay police officers on January 9, 2022.

Evans pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated serious assault.

Barrister Scott McLennan said there was no suggestion of intoxication behind Evans’s behaviour and told the court it had stemmed from a psychiatric issue.

The court heard she was taking steps to address her issues including ongoing sessions with a mental health worker and drug and alcohol counsellor.

The court heard Evans had a “long history of having … an explosive temper” and a medical report suggested a diagnosis of “intermittent explosive disorder”.

Judge Anthony Rafter acknowledged the diagnosis that suggested “some biochemical driven propensity to anger” but noted it did not completely explain her behaviour.

Ultimately he jailed her for 15 months with an immediate parole release. Convictions were recorded.