A burglar caught red-handed breaking into a shop was like a "wild animal" as he attacked and injured five police officers.
Benjamin Davies kicked and struck officers, spat blood in the face of one and told him he hoped he catches Covid, and grabbed a policewoman's breast and twisted it.
As he fought with and abused officers he told them they were acting unlawfully, and they would be hearing from his solicitor.
Swansea Crown Court heard the 21-year-old is ashamed of the way he behaved, and realises he needs to tackle his problem with alcohol and drug misuse.
Ashanti-Jade Walton, prosecuting, said on the evening of May 2 this year a passer-by saw a hooded figure smashing the window of the Refresh shop on Stepney Street in Llanelli and going inside. The member of the public challenged the intruder - later identified as Davies - about what he was doing, and was told the owner owed him money.
The court heard the witness called 999 and police were quickly on the scene. Davies was still in the shop when officers arrived, and he appeared to be collecting items ready to remove from the store.
Miss Walton said Davies became aggressive towards the officers, and began shouting and swearing at them. Three officers tried to restrain the defendant and took him to the floor, and during the struggle he tried to pick up a metal bar before grabbing a female officer by the hair. Davies was eventually sprayed with Pava incapacitant spray and placed in handcuffs.
The prosecutor said: "He kept shouting that what the police were doing was unlawful and he would contact his solicitor."
Davies continued to struggle as he was being taken to the police van telling officers "take your uniform off and I'll fight you like a real man". He then kicked one officer in groin, and spat blood and saliva into the face of another before telling him: "I hope you get Covid."
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The court heard that while the defendant was being held in a cell at Ammanford police station officers became concerned for his welfare when he was seen on CCTV putting his top around his neck. Officers went to check on him and he became "incredibly aggressive" with them, struggling with officers and grabbing a breast of a policewoman before twisting it violently. Miss Walton said fellow officers struck Davies' arm a number of times to try to make him let go of their colleague but that he appeared to have "super-human strength". Eventually he was restrained.
Miss Walton said the officers Davies attacked suffered cuts and bruises, and the female officer whose breast he twisted had to go to Prince Phillip Hospital following concerns about breast tissue damage. One of the officers said Davies "knew what he was doing" and "the scary thing is, he seemed to enjoy hurting us".
In interview he denied all the allegation put to him.
Davies, of Granby Close, Morfa, Llanelli, had previously pleaded guilty to burglary, four counts of assaulting a police officer by beating, and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has one previous conviction for one offence of affray from February last year for which he was given a community order with a rehabilitation course.
Helen Randall, for Davies, said the defendant abuses alcohol and drugs, and realises he needs to tackle that problem in order to turn his life around. She said the rehabilitation available to Davies in the community may better protect the public than what would be a relatively short custodial sentence.
The barrister added: "The defendant is ashamed of himself. In his own words, he wishes he had a time machine to go back and change what happened."
Judge Geraint Walters described the defendant's behaviour on the day in question as "truly disturbing". He said it was clear Davies had been heavily under the influence of alcohol and drugs when he acted "like a wild animal", and he said the public were rightly concerned at such violence directed towards officers.
Referring to the assault on the female officer at Ammanford police station the judge said he had not a shadow of a doubt that the defendant had done what he had done in order to demean her because she was woman.
The judge noted that Davies had completed the rehabilitation requirement attached to his previous sentence but it had not prevented him from re-offending, and a probation report said he lacked empathy towards the police officers and was reluctant to engage with help from mental health services.
Giving the defendant a one-third discount for his guilty pleas the judge sentenced him to a total of 16 months in prison comprising four months for the burglary, six months for the assaults by beating, and six months for the assault occasioning actual bodily harm all to run consecutively.
