A POLICEWOMAN has told how she was battered black and blue by a Johnstone thug who went on the rampage after watching his beloved Rangers lose an Old Firm match.

It took five officers, armed with incapacitant spray, to subdue Adam McManus as he caused havoc in the town’s Maple Drive.

Among his victims was PC Alison Laughlan, who was so severely injured that she was left unable to hold her baby daughter.

READ MORE: Police officer left unable to hold baby after vicious attack in Johnstone

Recalling her ordeal, 28-year-old Constable Laughlan said: “I felt my head getting bashed from side to side because he just kept hitting. I remember screaming and kind of stumbling.

“I tried to put my hands up towards my face and I was shouting at him to get back – anything to get him away from me. All I could hear was screaming and shouting.

“He just wouldn’t stop.”

McManus, 26, lashed out at the officers when they arrived to arrest him after he had choked a man in front of a terrified child.

He rained punches on Marian Roczek and throttled him before turning on neighbour John Cassidy when he intervened in a bid to calm him down.

Construction worker McManus then headbutted PC Vincent Coppola and spat in his face, before hitting PC Laughlan with handcuffs, pushing her to the ground and spitting in her face.

It took another three officers to subdue and arrest him during the incident, which took place at around 3.50pm on March 31 this year.

Constable Laughlan, who has been a serving officer for almost eight years, was left with concussion and severe bruising on her face, neck and ribs.

She was taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital, in Paisley, for treatment before returning home, where she found she was unable to hold her eight-month-old daughter.

Constable Laughlan said: “She crawled over to me and I didn’t go to pick her up because I didn’t feel well at all. I sat on the couch and my husband brought her over and put her next to me.

“She pulled onto my knee and, when she turned to try and climb onto me to cuddle in, I just winced and almost pushed her away.

“She started to cry and then I got really upset.

“She was trying to grab onto me and touch my face but I just burst into tears because the side of my jaw and my nose was really sensitive from being hit.”

The Gazette: Alison Laughlan was left badly bruised by the attack Alison Laughlan was left badly bruised by the attack

McManus admitted a total of four charges against him at Paisley Sheriff Court, including assaulting Constable Laughlan to her severe injury.

It was stated he had lost the plot after watching Rangers lose 2-1 against bitter rivals Celtic.
Defence solicitor Rhona Lynch said: “He was watching football with friends and neighbours. He overindulged in alcohol.

“He knows he behaved in a disgraceful fashion and would like to apologise to everyone involved for his actions.”

McManus, who was jailed for 45 months at the High Court in 2009 for a gang attack that left victim David Collins with brain injuries, returned to the dock on Friday to learn his fate.

As he caged McManus for three years and told him he will be supervised in the community for a further 12 months after he is released from prison, Sheriff Colin Pettigrew told him:

“Blows to the head, whether by punch or kick, can, unfortunately, be fatal.

“That it was not, on this occasion, was fortunate but you gave no thought to that.”

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