A TEENAGER who told police he would "drink their blood and spit it in their wives faces" has been jailed for four months.
Ryan Stirling subjected officers to a verbal tirade when arrested in Ballymena, Co Antrim on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old also spat at one constable during the outburst of aggression.
His lawyer told Ballymena Magistrates' Court, sitting at Laganside in Belfast, that he had behaved "absolutely appallingly".
Stirling, of no fixed abode, was convicted of assault on police, disorderly behaviour and criminal damage to a PSNI van.
Prosecutors said he was detained at Railway Street in connection with a separate matter.
CS spray had to be deployed because he was clenching his fists and spitting at one of the officers.
"He also stated that he would slice all of their throats, drink their blood and spit it in the faces of their wives," a Crown lawyer disclosed.
Stirling's behaviour continued as he was being taken into custody, spitting over a cell van which then had to undergo a deep clean.
A defence solicitor said Stirling apologised for actions he acknowledged were particularly serious in the current coronavirus emergency.
"In sobriety he doesn't give any trouble," the lawyer insisted.
"All his offending is related to drink and drugs. He simply cannot handle alcohol."
Imposing a total of four months imprisonment, District Judge Amanda Henderson told Stirling: "To spit at an officer at any time is an aggravating factor, but at this particular time it almost beggars belief." ends
