Woman, 43, who went on drunken rampage in homeless hostel and ‘deliberately’ BIT paramedic leaving him fearing he had HIV is spared jail

• Woman, 43, who bit a paramedic during drunken rampage has been spared jail
• Michelle Pollard attacked emergency workers at Manchester homeless centre
• Investigation was launched into whether she was having a ‘pseudoseizure’
• Pollard pleaded guilty but was given 16 months suspended for two years 

Michelle Pollard outside court in Manchester, where she was given a suspended sentence for biting a paramedic

A woman who ‘deliberately’ bit a paramedic and tried to attack emergency workers with a toilet cistern lid during a drunken rampage at a homeless hostel has been spared jail.

Michelle Pollard, 43, lashed out at paramedics trying to help her while intoxicated at the Centrepoint homeless centre in Manchester on July 4, 2019. 

The defendant stood up on the toilet and attempted to attack the two emergency workers with the cistern lid. As one paramedic stopped her using the porcelain lid as a weapon, his colleague Mark Sullivan tried telling Pollard to calm down. 

She then bit him on his left thumb so hard that she pierced his latex glove and drew blood, forcing him to undergo HIV tests amid fears he had contracted the virus, a court heard.    

Pollard had no history of epilepsy, but an investigation was launched into whether she had had a ‘pseudoseizure’ – a seizure that is caused by psychological trauma, such as severe mental stress. 

However, Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court was told that paramedics did not believe that she was ‘pseudo-fitting’ when she attacked them.

At court yesterday, Pollard admitted occasioning actual bodily harm but was given a 16-month jail sentence suspended for two years. 

Sentencing, Judge Maurice Greene told Pollard she may have not realised what the paramedic was doing but said the bite was a ‘deliberate act’. 

Pollard, 43, lashed out at paramedics trying to help her while intoxicated at the Centrepoint homeless centre in Manchester on July 4, 2019

The defendant stood up on the toilet and attempted to attack the two emergency workers with the cistern lid. As one paramedic stopped her using the porcelain lid as a weapon, his colleague Mark Sullivan tried telling Pollard to calm down 

NEAD, or Non Epileptic Seizures (NES) can be divided into two types: organic non-epileptic seizures (physical) and psychogenic seizures (emotional).

Organic seizures have a physical cause. They include fainting and metabolic causes such as diabetes.

Because organic NES have a physical cause, they may be relatively easy to diagnose and treated when the underlying cause is found.   

Psychogenic NES seizures are caused by mental or emotional issues. They may happen when someone’s reaction to painful or difficult thoughts and feelings affects them physically.

Psychogenic seizures include different types, but the most common type of NES is dissociative seizures. These happen unconsciously, which means that the person has no control over them.

NES can be difficult to diagnose because they can appear similar to epileptic seizures.  There are no symptoms that will definitely identify NES from epileptic seizures.     

He added: ‘You’d clearly been drinking a lot of alcohol on this particular night and paramedics were called. 

‘You had a seizure or a sort of seizure when the paramedic went there, picked up the top of the toilet and were going to hit Mr Sullivan with that. But then you bit him with such force that it went through his glove and through his skin. 

‘It drew blood. Some believed you were possibly HIV positive. Ultimately, that was not the case. But he had to be treated accordingly.

‘It had a serious effect on him for some months. That’s why it’s a serious assault. He was a paramedic doing no more than his job. It’s a very difficult job helping the public. 

‘He was trying to help you, and you treated him that way.’

Prosecutor William Staunton said: ‘The complainant had worked as a paramedic for a number of years. and had never been bitten before. He had been to the hostel with a colleague and was directed to the rear toilet where the defendant was in a cubicle. 

‘She appeared to be fitting and were some reports regarding ‘pseudo-fitting.’ There was an investigation to see what was going on but the paramedic did not think this was anything like ‘pseudo-fitting’.

‘The defendant was conscious at the time of the assault. 

‘She was standing up on top of the toilet and lifted the cistern and appeared to be seeking to use that as a weapon. She was divested of that but became aggressive and picked up the porcelain lid.

In a statement Mr Sullivan said: ‘She went to hit me with the top, and I stood in front of Michelle, telling her to calm down. Michelle then bit me on my left thumb.

‘It caused a lot of pain, and she wouldn’t let go. She was really biting down and I pushed her to try to get her to let go. I then got out of the room. 

‘I was in shock, as due to the force of the bite, she’d bitten through the glove and broken the skin barrier and drawn blood. 

The prosecutor added: ‘There is a reference that those treating him were concerned as there was a suggestion made somewhere that the defendant was HIV positive. 

She then bit him on his left thumb so hard that she pierced his latex glove and drew blood, forcing him to undergo HIV tests amid fears he had contracted the virus, a court heard 

‘They had to treat him accordingly although the root of that assumption is unclear.

‘Mr Sullivan described the medication and treatment and the effect this has had on him and his life, and obviously, the effect on others, his family.’

Pollard was allowed out of the hostel after the assault but was arrested in January last year as she was seen walking through Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester staggering and shouting. 

She started screaming at officers when questioned.

Pollard was in breach of a suspended sentence imposed in November 2017 after she assaulted a police officer. 

Her lawyer David Morton said in mitigation: ‘She was fitting before the bite and and after the bite. She has moved forward in very positive ways. 

‘She has a tragic background. She suffers from an emotional personality disorder. But she he is determined to remain alcohol-free as she sees the benefit.’

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