24 hour peace pledge ends with leg bite in Canberra court

Police in Canberra arrested a 44 year old woman on December 22 after she allegedly bit a police officer’s leg during an arrest at a home in Moncrieff. Officers had earlier attended the same address over a dispute between the woman and her partner, resolving it with a written agreement to “keep the King’s Peace” for 24 hours. Police say the agreement is used to defuse tense situations without making an arrest, but officers were called back to the house within hours over further aggressive behaviour. During the second visit, police allege the woman resisted arrest and bit one officer on the leg, leading to charges of causing actual bodily harm and resisting arrest. At the ACT Magistrates Court on December 23, prosecutors sought to ban her from contacting her partner, who the court heard had been supplying her with drugs. Her lawyer said the couple planned to marry in three weeks, and the court granted bail with strict conditions, proving the King’s Peace can be broken faster than it is written.