Drunk women punched and kicked police officers as they tried to help murder victim as he lay dying after being stabbed at Chapeltown Carnival

Daniesh Dixon and Leah Leader assaulted two West Yorkshire Police officers as they desperately tried to give first aid to murder victim Tcherno Ly victim after he suffered knife wounds during the 2019 carnival celebrations.

Leeds Crown Court heard the officers feared for their lives as they tried to help the victim as well as preserve the crime scene and maintain crowd order as Chapetown Road was packed with thousands of people.

One officer was punched in the throat as bottles were thrown from the crowd during the incident on August 25, 2019.

Conor Quinn,prosecuting, said the incident took place on August 25, 2019, at around 10.20pm during the carnival weekend celebrations.

The prosecutor said a man was stabbed and police who attended the scene administered first aid while an ambulance arrived.

He said "The carnival is attended by thousands each year and this was no exception."

The court heard there were large crowds nearby and a number of people hindered the approach of the emergency services.

"People were filming the situation on their phones.

"The police were doing their best to maintain the situation and to maintain the cordon around the injured party.

"Unfortunately the male would later go on to die from his wounds."

The two defendants approached a female officer who was at the edge of the cordon.

The prosecutor continued: "The two female defendants were clearly drunk and screaming and shouting, asking where the ambulance was."

The crowd was asked to stand back as attempts were made to resuscitate the injured man.

Mr Quinn added: "All followed that instruction apart from these two defendants."

Dixon pushed the female officer and grabbed her by the arm.

A bottle was thrown from the crowd which may have struck the officer.

Dixon punched the officer in the throat, causing her helmet to fall off.

Another officer took Dixon to the floor and people in the crowd began shouting about the use of force.

Dixon was led away in handcuffs.

Leader confronted the same female officer as Dixon was being led away.

Leader was asked to move away and to stop holding on to Dixon.

Others began to congregate and objected to the fact that Dixon was being taken away.

The same officer was assaulted again and Leader struck her once in the face.

Another woman was restrained with the use of a taser.

A male officer saw Leader attack the female officer from behind and he went to help his colleague.

Leader hit the male officer with a box of chips before kicking him in the upper body.

Other officers came to assist and the two women were then taken away.

Mr Quinn said both defendants "apologised profusely" for their behaviour when they were taken into custody.

The two officers provided statements to the court describing the fear they felt during the incident.

The female officer said: "Everything passed in a blur.

"I felt completely alone and I was scared for my safety.

"I had no idea if these people had weapons or if they were intent on causing me serious harm.

"As far as I can tell, everyone was bigger than me. I am only 5ft 2ins. My honestly held belief at this point was that my life was in danger."

The male officer described the distress he had felt during the situation but said he hoped that the two women were not sent to prison over their behaviour.

He said: "I would like them to be aware of how unnecessary this was.

"While they might not like us as an institution, I want them to realise that as people they have put us at great risk this evening.

"On any other day it would not have been a particularly noteworthy incident.

"I would hope that they see how their behaviour would have added more distress to the people who witnessed the senseless death of a young man."

Dixon, 20, Bentley Court, Keighley pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker.

Leader, 23, of Trafford Grove, Harehills, pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting an emergency worker.

Stephen Smithson, for Dixon, said his client committed the offence when she was "hopelessly drunk".

He added: "This is a young lady who has been sorry from the outset."

Mr Smithson said Dixon works as a medical lab assistant at Airedale Hospital.

She has ambitions to become a scientist and is due to start a degree at Leeds Beckett University

Mr Smithson said: "She has a great deal to lose should she be sent to custody."

Leader told a probation officer when interviewed about the incident that she was ten on a scale of drunkenness from one to ten.

She was unable to provide an explanation for her behaviour and said she was sorry and ashamed of what she had done.

The court heard Leader worked as an NHS support worker at St James' Hospital but lost her job because of the conviction.

She told the probation officer: "Working in that environment I am subjected to that sort of behaviour and it is thoroughly unpleasant."

Her barrister, Anastasis Tasou, said: "Up until this point in her life she was extremely hard working.

"She never set foot on the wrong side of the law.

"She had got herself on the first rung of a career and that career has now gone as a result of this action."

Leader was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

She was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and pay £250 court costs.

Dixon was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Sentencing, Recorder Mark McKone said: "What aggravates this is a man had been stabbed and later died.

"This was at the Chapeltown Carnival where there were thousands of people and a tense atmosphere.

"The police were providing a hugely important role in providing first aid to the dying man and persevering to secure the scene for evidential reasons and providing dignity to the deceased.

"Both of you played a part in disrupting the work of the police and you ran the risk of creating a major public disorder situation.

"It seems to me that this is one of the worst examples of assaulting a police officer in circumstances where the officers were not seriously hurt.

"I hope you both realise how close you have both come to going to prison."

Two men have been given life sentences after being convicted of Mr Ly's murder.