A woman who sent her partner’s daughter a picture of herself with a knife held to her throat became violent when police arrived at her home to check she was okay.

Sarah Louise Gate - a 34-year-old Carlisle woman with learning difficulties - became angry and began throwing things.

The city’s Rickergate Magistrates’ Court heard how she yelled abuse, smashed a plant pot and threw an empty wine bottle which hit a police officer, though this was unintentional.

In court, Gate, of Finn Avenue, Carlisle, admitted three charges of assaulting an emergency worker and one of assaulting an emergency worker by beating.

Peter Bardsley, prosecuting, said police were sent to her home at 2am on March 15 to do a welfare check.

“It was reported that she’d sent a picture to her partner’s daughter showing her [the defendant] holding a knife to her own throat so police were concerned she was going to harm herself,” said the lawyer.

Initially, Gate was calm but she became aggressive, and began swearing. She started throwing things around, including the wine bottle which hit the officer. Eventually, the officers used a pava incapacitant spray so they could restrain her.

Gate later said she had no intention of harming herself, and sent the picture get her partner’s attention after they argued. “She said she just wanted her partner to come home,” said Mr Bardsley.

Asked why she had thrown things around, she said she felt overwhelmed by the number of police officers and was frightened.

Gail Heard, for Gate, highlighted her learning difficulties, saying Gate was assessed as having the ability to cope of an 11-year-old. “I dealt with her at the police station and it was somewhat distressing to see the state she was in at that time,” said the lawyer.

The whole thing began as a result of her making a domestic violence complaint, said Miss Heard. “Once she’d summoned the courage and made the complaint, she began to worry about it and retracted her position.

“Her partner of 13 years is substantially older than her and she is a little dependent on him. In a misguided effort to get him to re-engage, she sent that picture.”

When the police arrived, she tried to tell the officers she was okay and get them to leave. She found the whole experience stressful and intrusive. Her partner was at the property at the time.

Miss Heard added: “She was already scared. The police officers’ entry into the property and the arrest of her partner sent her into meltdown... She was simply out of control with her emotions.”

The defendant’s relationship with the man was now over. She threw things recklessly, not to hurt anybody.

Magistrates fined Gate £300, with £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.