Police officer suffers facial injury after assault by Inverness teenager

A police officer suffered a hairline fracture of her eye socket after a drunk teenage girl struck her with an unknown object.

The constable was trying to help the 17-year-old get home after the girl turned up at her stepfather's house in Inverness's Hilton housing estate in the early hours of October 8 last year.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court before Sheriff Robert Frazer and admitted an assault to severe injury.

Fiscal depute Pauline Gair told the court that the girl was intoxicated and may have been under the influence of a substance when she arrived at the house at 3.10am.

"She rambled on to her stepfather that she couldn't go home and she wanted to go to the toilet," Mrs Gair said. "But then she began shouting and swearing and the police were called.

"She was offered a lift home but on leaving, she changed her mind and went to walk home."

The fiscal added that the girl then started to walk back to where she had come from and the police again tried to persuade her to go home.

"But she struck the constable in the face and she stumbled back," Mrs Gair said. "It is suspected the girl was in possession of an object but it is unknown what it was."

The teenager was handcuffed and arrested. The constable suffered a hairline fracture of her eye socket and bruising around her eye.

Sentence was deferred on the first offender for a background report until June 8 when she has other matters calling.