A man who attacked a teenager and a doorman in separate York city centre incidents has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Jonathan Bruce, 36, pushed the boy against a wall, pushed him to the ground where he hit his head against a step and threatened to “break his skull”, said Kathryn Walters, prosecuting.
He also shouted at the teenager and spat on him during the incident in Lead Mill Lane which had begun when Bruce pulled the boy’s shoulder from behind and when the teenager turned, grabbed him by his neck.
On the same day, Bruce started violence in the Postern Gate Wetherspoons pub nearby during which he punched a doorman to the neck, said Ms Walters.
Defence solicitor Lee-Anne Robins-Hicks said Bruce had had a glass of wine with a meal before both incidents and believed “rightly or wrongly” the boy was responsible for incidents that affected his personal life.
After that incident, he and his wife had gone to the pub and while he was ordering drinks someone had said something “inappropriate” about his wife.
“His emotions were still all over the place. He wasn’t in control of them, and he bitterly regrets his actions,” said Ms Robins-Hicks.
Bruce, of Lincoln Street, off Leeman Road, York, pleaded guilty to assaulting the boy, assaulting the doorman and using threatening or disorderly behaviour in public.
Magistrates gave Bruce a 12-week prison sentence suspended for two years on condition he does 10 days’ rehabilitative activities and 100 hours’ unpaid work. He must pay a £154 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.
Ms Walters said the boy was on his way to a gym when Bruce attacked him. A passer-by saw the assault and told each to go on their way. The boy suffered minor scratches and bruises.
In a personal statement, the teenager told the court he had been shaken by the incident, now felt anxious walking around the city and was worried about encountering Bruce again. He said he had never been in a confrontation with him before.
Ms Walters said that in the pub Bruce had put another member of staff in fear that they would be subjected to violence as well as the attack on the doorman.
Ms Robins-Hicks said Bruce had acted out of character. He was under pressure in his personal life, and he and his wife had gone for a meal to relax together. As they left the pub they came across the boy and he had become “overcome by emotion”.
The “small amount” of alcohol he had drunk may also have contributed to his behaviour, the court heard.
Source – York Press
