A protester who spat at police who were guarding world leaders at the G7 Summit in Cornwall last year has been ordered to tackle her abuse of alcohol.

Michelle Perryman was drunk when she tried to get through the police cordon around the conference at Carbis Bay in June 2021, a court was told.

She got through the outer security ring by posing as an innocent dog walker but was carrying a megaphone and hoped to be able to express her views about the Covid pandemic to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, President Joe Biden and other leaders.

She spat at police after they realised she was drunk and attempts to escort her back out of the controlled area failed. She spat at two officers who arrested her for being drunk and disorderly.

Her spittle landed in the face of one female constable who was on detachment to the event from Thames Valley police. Perryman also spat at a second officer from the same force, with her spittle landing on her uniform.

The road was sealed off under an Anti-Terrorism Regulation Order to enable convoys of world leaders to reach the summit on June 10, 2021. She had been drinking cider, Prosecco and Bucks Fizz.

She went on to attack a local officer who went to her home in South Devon to arrest her two months later when she failed to answer bail.

Perryman, aged 50, of Moor View, Paignton, denied, but was convicted, of three counts of assaulting emergency workers by a jury at Exeter Crown Court, where she represented herself.

She was ordered to do 20 days of rehabilitation activities and undergo a six month alcohol treatment programme as part of an 18 month community order by Recorder Mr Mathew Turner.

He said he was taking into consideration a pre-sentence report, a report on Perryman’s mental health, and her apology for her actions and determination to tackle her alcohol problem.

He said: “You are not somebody with a lengthy list of previous convictions but there was deliberate spitting and that was an aggravating factor, particularly since this occurred last year during the course of the pandemic.”

Perryman, who remained unrepresented at the sentencing hearing, said she was drinking too much at the time because she was struggling to cope with caring for her unwell husband while also suffering from depression and psychosis.

She said her meetings with probation officers who were preparing the report on her had led her to understand that she needed to stop drinking and that she had been sober for ten days already.

She said: “I am more than sorry for how I acted and how I acted during the trial. I hope God will forgive me. It is the hardest thing to come in here today without a sip.”

During the trial, Ian Graham, prosecuting, said Perryman was arrested on the main road leading to the G7 conference on June 10 last year. She was initially detained for being drunk and disorderly but then handcuffed and put into a spit hood after the assaults on the two officers.

She also attacked an officer who climbed through her open kitchen window on August 2, 2021, by trying to grab at his arm and his Taser. He responded by punching her in the face.

Perryman had denied spitting at the police and said the entry into her home was unlawful. She said she had gone to Carbis Bay with a megaphone and had got on well with police who initially let her through the first cordon so she could walk her terrier dog.

She said being arrested and handcuffed was unpleasant and painful because she suffers from health issues including a hiatus hernia.