A drunk family doctor swore at a police officer and bit him hard on the arm after crashing her car into a wall, a Court heard.

Jane Hornsey sank her teeth into PC Jason Payne with such force he had to strike her twice to the side of the head and use CS spray to free himself.

The Keighley GP was “clearly intoxicated and staggering around”, prosecutor Geraldine Kelly told Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

Hornsey, 52, of Millers House, Arncliffe, near Skipton, pleaded guilty to assaulting PC Payne and causing him actual bodily harm on October 18, 2009.

The court heard Hornsey denied driving over the prescribed limit and that allegation would be dealt with at Skipton Magistrates’ Court.

Miss Kelly said PC Payne was called to the B6960, near Kilnsey, at 7.45pm by a passing driver.

He reported that Hornsey’s car had hit a wall. He said she had been drinking and was abusive so he was unable to help her. The court heard that Hornsey repeatedly swore at PC Payne.

She refused to get into his vehicle for a breath test and, when he tried to restrain her, she bit his right forearm “extremely hard”, said Miss Kelly.

PC Payne struck her twice to the side of the head to try to make her let go and she was CS sprayed and handcuffed.

Miss Kelly said the officer’s arm was swollen and bruised and he needed an anti-tetanus jab and antibiotics. Hornsey told the police she had missed her turn coming back from the gym. She said she began to drink vodka only after she crashed her car.

In mitigation, her barrister, Sophie Drake, said Hornsey, of previous good character, was a GP of many years standing. Last October, she was sole carer for her husband, who died of cancer two months later.

She had been suspended from her job at the North Street Surgery in Keighley after an anonymous letter was received.

The matter, that was nothing to do with this case, was being heard by the General Medical Council next month.

Hornsey bought two bottles of vodka to drink at home but drunk some after her car crash, the court heard.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC sentenced Hornsey to a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered her to pay £500 compensation to PC Payne and £500 prosecution costs.

Judge Durham Hall said Hornsey, a mother-of-four, had led a hitherto blameless life. She was under “quite appalling pressure” at the time and had offered a profound apology to PC Payne.

“The harsh reality is that at the time of the offence, she was suffering from a depressive illness,” he added.