A mum-of-two who allegedly took photos of police in court has now admitted to attacking an officer.
Paula Heathers avoided prison when convicted of laundering dirty cash for her burglar boyfriend Keith Russell.
The 51-year-old was given a suspended sentence in July, after her lawyer outlined the impact that jailing her would have on her two sons.
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But she later took out her mobile phone and started taking photos in court, which is strictly forbidden and punishable by up to two years in jail.
Heathers, of The Green, Broadgreen, claimed she only took the photos to show one of her sons what court looks like.
Five months on, the ECHO has been told this potential contempt of court is still under investigation by Merseyside Police.
However, Heathers was back in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court this morning for assaulting a police officer on November 11.
She admitted assaulting an emergency worker at her home and thereby breaching two separate suspended prison sentences.
The first was imposed by magistrates on March 16 this year for an incident on September 24, 2020, which also involved attacking police.
Heathers had admitted two counts of assaulting an emergency worker - one a police officer and one a detention officer - and being drunk and disorderly.
For those offences she was handed 20 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.
The second suspended sentence was imposed on July 7 after she admitted money laundering.
The court heard Heathers was in a relationship with 42-year-old Russell - described as one of the main players in a £2.5m burglary plot.
The conspiracy involved raids on homes across Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire when high performance cars, jewellery and luxury items were stolen.
Prosecutors said Russell received payment for some of the burglaries from the gang's ringleader via Heathers, who accepted deposits into her bank account.
The mum had admitted converting criminal property, relating to a total of £1,575 over a period of around 12 months.
At that sentencing, Jeremy Hawthorn, defending, said Heathers had two sons with ADHD, one with more significant care needs than the other, and locking her up would have a significant harmful impact on the children.
Judge Anil Murray gave her 14 months in jail, suspended for two years, with 150 hours of unpaid work and a 10-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement.
David Woods, defending, today asked for a pre-sentence report on behalf of his client, following a meeting with the Probation Service this afternoon.
Judge Neil Flewitt, QC, agreed and said Heathers would be sentenced on Tuesday.
He warned: "If you don't turn up for that report, if you disappear out of the building so it cannot be prepared, you will be sentenced without it and that will leave the judge with pretty much no choice other than to send you to prison."
The judge said she was "at risk" of prison anyway because she had breached two suspended sentences, adding: "You should make whatever arrangements you need to make before Tuesday."
The court previously heard Heathers took photos of the court in recess on July 7, which showed both police officers and barristers involved in the case.
She was arrested and detained in the cells, before Judge Murray gave her the opportunity to explain her actions.
Speaking at the time, Mr Hawthorn explained Heathers had received a phone call from her son, who asked her to describe the court and said "will you take a couple of photos so I can see what it's like?"
He said Heathers had taken "panoramic" shots of the court from the public gallery and hadn't intended to focus on individuals, or do anything other than show the photos to her son when she got home.
Mr Hawthorn said: "From what she says, it sounds as though this is a very basic phone, such as the photos would be readily deleted, and she wishes to apologise for doing something she did not realise she wasn't allowed to do, but obviously accepts that to be the position."
Judge Murray said police would take her phone to examine it and that she would be summoned to answer the contempt of court at a later date.
Russell, of no fixed address, is still awaiting sentence for his involvement in the burglary conspiracy, which Merseyside Police said led to one of the biggest burglary operations ever carried out in the North West.
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