A VILE yob who threatened to stab a group of girls before gobbing in a cops face has been SPARED jail for being too “young and immature”. Shanae White, 20, screamed “I will stab you all” as she tore two necklaces off one her victim’s necks in an unprovoked attack. She then spat in a policeman’s […]
A VILE yob who threatened to stab a group of girls before gobbing in a cops face has been SPARED jail for being too “young and immature”.
Shanae White, 20, screamed “I will stab you all” as she tore two necklaces off one her victim’s necks in an unprovoked attack.
She then spat in a policeman’s face – which at the time was during the height of the second coronavirus lockdown – as she was being arrested.
But White, of Stretford, Manchester, was spared jail for her crimes that took place in 2020, when she was just 18-years-old.
A court heard how the lout targeted her victim, Leonie Heaney, as she was chatting to two friends in Bury town centre.
She walked up to the trio and offered to sell them drugs, before becoming aggressive and demanding phones or jewellery from the group.
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Alexandra Sutton, prosecuting, told a hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court how White became agitated when the group said they didn’t have a phone with credit.
White said: “Have none of you got a phone or jewellery? You’re lying to me – I will stab you all.”
She then “got in Miss Heaney’s face”, grabbing hold of three necklaces around her victim’s neck and trying to pull them off.
Her victim managed to hold onto one of the necklaces, whilst White ripped the other two – one of which had been a gift from the victim’s grandparents – before the group ran off.
White admitted to having smoked some weed before the attack.
She was arrested and taken to a cell in Bury, where she took her surgical mask off and spat so much saliva in a cop’s face it leaked into his eyes.
The court heard how White had initially agreed to go to her cell to be searched and her handcuffs were removed.
But as she was being escorted to her cell by Sgt Black, she suddenly stopped, refused to go any further, removed the facemask and threatened spit in the officers face.
Ms Sutton said: “She then did so and a large amount of spittle was projected from two metres away and Sgt Black felt it on his face, forehead, cheek, lips and chin.
“At the time he was restraining White with his hands and he felt the saliva run into his eyes and and mouth as he was not able to wipe it away.”
I’d rather be punched than have someone spit in my face
Sgt Black, Bury police station
Statements from both of White’s victims were heard in court, with Miss Heaney telling police the attack had left her scared to go out for fear she might fall victim to a similar mugging.
She said the stabbing threats issued made her feel her life was at risk.
Sgt Black, who is based at Bury police station, said: ”The incident left me feeling sick. It happened during the pandemic and I was worried about catching the Covid virus and passing it onto my family.
“I’d rather be punched than have someone spit in my face.”
After her arrest, White blamed her conduct on mental health issues stemming back to ”irresponsible parenting” and abuse from family members.
In mitigation, defence counsel Miss Lillian Lewis said: ”She’s had a very difficult, disruptive and traumatic childhood and was also a victim of significant domestic violence by a former long term partner.”
White – who answered no comment in police interview – has a history of knife crime, violence, and resisting arrest, with five previous offences on her record.
In 2019 she was given a 12-month youth rehabilitation order for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
She also had convictions for possessing a knife in a public place, assault and resisting a police constable.
Although no public apology was given to either of her victims, White pleaded guilty to robbery and assaulting an emergency worker.
She was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment, suspended for two years and given a curfew.
She was also ordered to complete a “Thinking Skills” programme, attend a course at a “Problem-Solving Court”, and undergo 20 Rehabilitation Requirement Days.
When sentencing, Judge Bernadette Baxter told her the robbery was “nasty bullying violence” and spitting in the face of an officer was “absolutely disgusting and vile”.
But the judge added: “Because of the age you were at the time, and your immaturity, the very disruptive and difficult childhood you have had and your exposure because of irresponsible parents to domestic violence and because of your mental health difficulties, I can suspend the sentence.
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“Given your age, there is a real hope for rehabilitation but this is not a soft option for you.”
An accomplice of White, Ricaan Chevelleau, 19, of Blackley, Manchester will be sentenced later.
