A POLICE officer was assaulted by a New Forest man after officers were called to reports of a domestic incident at a flat in a Hampshire village.

Shaun O’Sullivan, of New Milton, resisted attempts to take him into custody and had to be lifted into a police van parked outside the property.

O’Sullivan sat with one of his legs protruding from a cage inside the vehicle and lashed out after a police constable intervened.

Siobhan Linsley, prosecuting, told Southampton Crown Court that the incident occurred on April 26 last year.

O’Sullivan refused to fully open the flat’s front door but officers managed to gain entry to the property, she said.

Ms Linsley added: “The defendant was unsteady on his feet. He resisted being taken out to a police van by refusing to move and had to be lifted into the vehicle. He sat with his leg protruding from the cage, preventing officers from closing the door.

“One of the officers went to push the defendant’s leg inside the cage and was deliberately kicked.

“The kick connected with the officer’s body armour and no injury was caused. Nevertheless the assault involved the use of a shod foot.”

O’Sullivan, 36, of Osborne House, New Milton, admitted assaulting an emergency worker following the incident in Boswell Close, Botley.

Judge Gary Burrell QC decided to follow recommendations made by the probation service and handed the defendant a 12-month community order.

Judge Burrell told him: “Your life has gone quite badly for quite a long time, largely due to your own decision to take drugs on a regular basis.

“But probation seem to think you have the capacity to get clean eventually and you do seem to be doing quite well.

“It’s not time to throw away the key just yet but you’re getting pretty close. This is an opportunity for you to hopefully succeed.”