A POLICE woman screamed out in pain when a prisoner grabbed her fingers and bent them back as he was being placed in a cell.

Blackburn magistrates heard that a fellow officer had to bang Stephen Ribchester's hand against the cell floor to make him release his grip.

Ribchester, 35, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly on Darwen bus station and assaulting a police officer.

He was remanded on bail until June 9 for pre-sentence reports.

Claire Fanning, prosecuting, said police had been called to a disturbance outside the Millstone pub where paramedics reported they were having difficulty with a patient.

Ribchester was being abusive to the paramedics and they eventually decided not to take him to hospital. Ribchester was extremely drunk and when the officers tried to handcuff him he repeatedly tried to bite them. He continued to be abusive and threatening at the police station and attacked the officer as he was being placed in a cell.

Clare Knight, defending, said Ribchester had woken up in a police cell and had wondered what he was doing there. "He had no recollection of the events of the previous evening," said Miss Knight.