A MAN who damaged a police cell and assaulted an officer now has a jail sentence hanging over his head for a long time.

Magistrates heard this week that John Michael Wilson caused £120 worth of damage to the police cell in Peterlee on January 8 this year.

Read more: Drunken vandal threatened village residents with a glass bottle

And the day before, he assaulted a police officer in Horden.

He pleaded guilty to magistrates at Newton Aycliffe on Monday to both offences and admitted they put him in breach of a suspended sentence imposed in November last year for assaulting an emergency worker.

Wilson, 34, of Bourne Street, was ordered by magistrates to pay a total of £195 in compensation.

They also extended his existing suspended sentence from 12-months to 18-months.

This means he could be sent to jail for eight weeks if he re-offends within that time period.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated County Durham Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054