A FEMALE special constable broke down in tears today (October 24) when she described the moment an enraged grandfather approached her as she sat in the passenger seat of a patrol car.

Jeanette Horlock said when she tried to calm Lenny McCourt down he told her to shut her “f***ing cakehole” - and she feared he would rip her head out of the window.

The driver, PC Terry Hill, got out and pepper sprayed the 44-year-old twice before he was handcuffed and put in the back of a van, a jury sitting in Crook, County Durham, has been told.

Mr McCourt was taken from Ash Crescent, Seaham to Peterlee Police Station on September 11, 2010. He was certified dead after his arrival.

Giving evidence the sixth day of an inquest into Mr McCourt’s death, Ms Horlock said officers had been called to a disturbance in the street.

PC Hill and PC Richard Clark had resolved the situation and they were all about to leave when Mr McCourt came out of his house, the jury heard.

Ms Horlock said: “I saw the man shouting and swearing and making his way to police car. He was shouting 'look at my muscles I’m Lenny McCourt, I can have you any time'.

“PC Hill put my passenger window down and I put my head out of the window and tried to calm him down.

“He was shouting at me to shut my “f***ing cake hole”.”

She added: “I was frightened. I remember him coming closer to the car to the window. . . . it was close enough for me to think that he was going to put his arm through and rip my head out of the car.”

PC Hill told an earlier hearing he got out of his car and pepper sprayed Mr McCourt after he threw a wild punch at PC Clark.

Ms Horlock, who accompanied PC Clark to Peterlee Police Station, said she had no concerns about the effects of the pepper spray on Mr McCourt, as he was shouting and kicking when he was placed in the van.

But, at one point during the journey, it “became quiet”, she added. Ms Horlock said she looked back once, but could not see Mr McCourt in the secure area because her view was restricted.

Coroner Andrew Tweddle drew her attention to police guidelines highlighting the “utmost importance” of monitoring anyone who had been pepper sprayed “throughout their recovery”.

The hearing continues.