Jason Whitla: Bare-chested man allegedly bit police officer’s leg in Lurgan after suspected drugs binge
A bare-chested man allegedly bit into a PSNI officer’s leg after a suspected drugs binge in the centre of Lurgan, the High Court has heard.
Prosecutors claimed Jason Whitla, 26, also kicked and spat on other policemen as part of the same outburst of violence.
Refusing his application for bail, Mrs Justice Smyth ruled: “When this man is taking drugs he’s dangerous to the public.”
Whitla, of Edward Street, Portadown, faces charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, six separate assaults on police, criminal damage to a PSNI van and disorderly behaviour at a hospital.
Crown counsel Mark Conlon said he was wearing no top and had injuries to his hands when officers located him on Hill Street in Lurgan at around 4am on December 27 last year.
Amid suspicions that he was under the influence of substances at the time, he allegedly became aggressive and initially attempted to bite one of the policemen.
Whitla then kicked another member of the force twice on the leg amid efforts to apply a spitguard, it was claimed.
“An officer was bitten on his calf, where the skin was broken and he required hospital treatment as a result,” Mr Conlon disclosed.
Whitla also had to be taken for a medical assessment due to his own condition.
According to the prosecution he shouted and swore while at Craigavon Area Hospital before again turning his aggression on police.
“They tried to get him to calm down, but at that point he spat directly in one officer’s face,” counsel added.
A defence barrister told the court that the events occurred close to the anniversaries of two separate tragedies in Whitla’s life - the loss of his mother in 2022 and the murder of his uncle in Lurgan the following month.
The defendant also suffered from a serious drug addiction and was the victim of an attack on the night police encountered him, the court heard.
“Because of the emotions of that time of the year… he reacted in a way that he shouldn’t,” the lawyer submitted.
However, Mrs Justice Smyth held that Whitla must remain in custody.
She said: “There is no evidence at all that this man is at a point in his life where he is willing to accept help, or abide by any conditions the court would impose.”