A homeless woman attacked a string of cops - punching one and spitting on others, a court heard.

Warda Mohammed, 31, a refugee from Somalia with a history of drug use and violence, has now been made the subject of a hospital order under the Mental Health Act after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

A member of the public alerted police when they noticed someone with a hammer close to where children were playing in Piccadilly Gardens on a warm sunny day in May last year.

A police constable was on duty in the Gardens around noon on May 13 and saw Mohammed sitting on the ground with the hammer between her legs and arrested her for possession of an offensive weapon, prosecutor Brendan O'Leary told Manchester Crown Court.

Mohammed was handcuffed and taken to Longsight police station where, when the 'cuffs were removed, she punched the PC in the head, causing him soreness and swelling, the court was told.

She was also arrested for assaulting an emergency worker but released on bail.

The following month - on June 14, 2019 - Mohammed was spotted by police on Market Street near Primark and officers noted she was listed as a wanted person on the police national computer.

The defendant was arrested and escorted to nearby Fountain Street where the prisoner was to be picked up by a police van.

Prosecutor Mr O'Leary said the defendant was screaming 'at the top of her voice' and dropped to her knees as officers waited for the van.

When Mohammed was restrained, one of the police officers noted he had spit on his clothing.

The officer said he 'felt sick, dirty and violated' by Mohammed, the court was told.

When a second PC stepped in, Mohammed spat at them too, with spittle landing on the officer's trousers.

The officers tried to restrain Mohammed only for her to stamp on the boot of a third officer. She was arrested and taken to a police station.

Mohammed, the court was told, had a number of previous convictions. She was handed a six-week suspended prison sentence when she was convicted of racially aggravated common assault in November 2015 and she was given another suspended prison sentence in September 2016 for making threats with a blade. While still serving that sentence, in November 2016, she was convicted of affray and the suspended sentence was extended by six months.

Alistair Reid, defending, told the court his client suffered a 'difficult and disturbing time living in Somalia', pointing to a 'history of violence inflicted on her when she made it to the UK'.

Mohammed had been 'exploited' and had problems with drug use, particularly synthetic cannabis, according to her barrister. Synthetic cannabis is also known as spice.

The defendant, of no fixed abode, admitted four counts of assaulting an emergency worker and one charge of possessing an offensive weapon.

The judge, Miss Recorder Mary Loram QC, said: "Two psychiatrists have confirmed she's suffering from mental illness. The only course the court can and indeed should take is the imposition of a hospital order both for her sake and the sake of the public."

The judge made a hospital order under section 37 of the Mental Health Act. It means she will remain under the care of doctors at a secure hospital unit until doctors decide she is safe to be released.