London -
A couple caught having sex in a pub toilet were pepper sprayed by police when they refused to come out, a court heard on Wednesday.
Hayley McClory, 23, and Lee Hopps, 30, had to be dragged out of the cubicle in a state of undress after noises were heard coming from the ladies’ loos.
Officers who arrived at the pub had to resort to drastic measures to end their lovemaking, magistrates were told.
On Wednesday the pair appeared in court to face a series of charges including resisting arrest.
Magistrates heard that the incident unfolded last month at a Wetherspoons pub in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.
Prosecutor Blair Martin said: “The barman at a Wetherspoons pub in Bishop Auckland was aware of some activity in the female toilet of the upstairs part of the pub.
“He went up to find that noises were coming from a cubicle. It was clear some carnal knowledge was going on inside the cubicle.
“Police attended but they would not come out.”
The court was told that the officers then forced their way into the cubicle in order to stop the pair.
Pepper spray was used against Hopps after he was said to have sworn at the arresting constables, said Mr Martin.
The couple smiled after appearing before magistrates in Newton Aycliffe yesterday charged with a public order offence.
And as they left the court, McClory grabbed Hopps’s bottom and said to onlookers: “Is that good enough for you?”
Hopps was charged with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour and resisting police arrest. McClory faces the same two offences as well as one of assaulting a police officer. The couple, from Bishop Auckland, deny all the charges.
McClory admits criminal damage to a blanket worth £10.46 which she was given in police custody.
The court heard that part of the couple’s defence will centre on the police officers’ use of pepper spray, allegedly in breach of guidelines laid down by the Association Of Chief Police Officers.
They are expected to argue their arrests were therefore unlawful.
The case was adjourned until June 10 at Newton Aycliffe magistrates court. Chairman of the bench Kevin Radford granted unconditional bail.
Daily Mail