A man who has 13 offences of assaulting a police officer on his long criminal record has been jailed for ten months for attacking four of them.

Ian Pritchard punched an officer in the face and ripped another’s radio from his ear when they went to arrest him for escaping after giving a positive breath test, Bradford Crown Court heard.

The offences put him in breach of a community order imposed on July 23 last year for two offences of assault on an emergency worker when he bit two police officers.

Pritchard, 33, of Alexandra Close, Laisterdyke, Bradford, was sentenced on a video link to HMP Leeds today.

He pleaded guilty to escaping from a police officer on Bowling Back Lane, Bradford, on December 21 last year after failing a roadside breath test.

Several hours later, when officers went to his address, Pritchard was crouching behind the front door to hide, prosecutor Paul Nicholson said.

He struggled to avoid being apprehended, punching an officer in the face and pulling his colleague’s earpiece out.

On the way to the police station, Pritchard shouted abuse from the back of the police van.

He was believed to be under the influence of alcohol and drugs, the court was told.

When he was being interviewed at the police station, Pritchard reached across the table, grabbed his interview notes and ripped them up.

He was remanded in custody and admitted offences of escape, assaulting an emergency worker and criminal damage.

Pritchard had 39 previous convictions for 96 offences.

He had now attacked a total of 13 police officers and obstructed others, the court heard.

His solicitor advocate, Saf Salam, said of Prichard: “He understands that a custodial sentence is inevitable.”

He had not consumed alcohol for eight months until the night he was breath tested and fled on foot.

“He clearly has an issue with authority,” Mr Salam said.

Pritchard had complied well with the community order for biting the officers and Mr Salam asked the judge to consider suspending the jail sentence.

But Judge Jonathan Rose told Pritchard: “You have an appalling record littered with offences against police officers.”

When he was stopped for driving over the prescribed limit, he made “a bad situation worse” by escaping from an officer and assaulting two others who came to arrest him.

Pritchard was imprisoned for six months for the latest offences plus four months to run consecutively for the earlier matters.