DORSET'S highest-ranked officer has condemned attacks on police after a woman admitted assaulting three PCs.

Chief Constable James Vaughan said six officers are assaulted each week in Dorset, resulting in one member of staff being off work for every day of the year.

His letter to magistrates was read aloud after Lauren Bennett, of Ballam Grove in Poole, admitted kicking and biting three female officers during an incident on June 2.

Nicola Reece, prosecuting, said the officers were called to a disturbance in Turbary Road at 8.30pm. After they arrived at an address, they told Bennett, 35, she would need to be searched.

The defendant began "swearing loudly and refusing to comply".

She was eventually restrained and handcuffed, but continued to resist, kicking and scratching the officers.

"She was screaming that she had intent to harm the officers," Ms Reece said.

"She said she would punch them in the face and that she hated them. She was arrested and transported in a marked police van to custody, where she refused to get out and had to be physically carried by six female officers."

The defendant was hoisted aloft in a seated position. However, she continued to kick out, connecting with the back of one officer's knees. She then bit a third PC's finger.

Bennett suffers with Huntingdon's disease, an inherited disorder that results in the death of brain cells. The illness is usually fatal.

On the day of the attacks, the defendant had mixed alcohol with her medication for the disease.

When she was interviewed about the offences, she wept and "apologised profusely", telling police she had not meant to do any harm.

The defendant admitted three charges of assaulting PCs in the execution of their duties.

In a letter read aloud to the court, Chief Constable Vaughan said police are subjected to threats and violence "all too often".

"Police officers and staff are people - they are fathers, mothers, sons and daughters," he said.

"When they are attacked, they become victims like any other."

Bennett's sentenced was adjourned for three weeks for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.