A FORMER soldier who has post-traumatic stress disorder after he was injured serving in Afghanistan has twice attacked police officers while suffering a blackout, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Shaun Aspin, 31, has been released from prison to undergo a psychiatric assessment after breaching a suspended sentence order for stabbing an officer in the arm.

Aspin, of Walker Avenue, Great Horton, Bradford, appeared from custody at Bradford Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to harassment and assault on an emergency worker on May 20.

The court heard that Aspin was medically discharged after seven years in the 1st Battalion Duke of Lancaster Regiment.

He sent a voicemail to his former girlfriend late at night saying: “You’re going to have a nice surprise in the morning,” prosecutor Mark Brookes said.

She told him to leave her alonee court heard.

But he responded with: “Look through your kitchen window.”

The woman called the police when she saw Aspin standing in her garden with a washing line round his neck.

Two officers attended the suicide alert and saw Aspin on the ground with the cord round his neck.

When one of them went to remove it, Aspin stood up, lashed out and hit him in the face, the court was told.

The offences put him in breach of a 14-month suspended jail sentence imposed by the court in January last year.

That sentence had been passed for affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Police were called to Aspin’s home on the evening of December 19, 2017, because of concerns for his safety.

They found him on the sofa with a kitchen knife in his hand and another in his lap, the court heard.

As they tried to detain him, Aspin lunged at them, stabbing one of the officers.

The officer was left with a four-inch gash to his arm and a cut to his thigh.

Aspin answered no comment to the police’s questions following the latest incidents.

The court heard that since the imposition of the suspended sentence order, he had received counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The blackouts had stopped after he ceased taking anti-depressant tablets.

Judge Colin Burn said he was unwilling to sentence Aspin without first receiving an assessment from his community psychiatrist.

“The court needs a formal diagnosis or a formal treatment plan,” he said.

The only alternative was immediate custody.

Judge Burn warned Aspin that he was facing the prospect of a prison sentence.

He adjourned the case until July 11 and granted Aspin bail for the assessment to be prepared.

Aspin has been told he must obey a 12-hour curfew order, from 7pm until 7am.

He is banned from contacting his ex-girlfriend or going near her address in Bradford.