A 33-year-old groundworker has been fined £500 for assaulting a designated official at Sam Webb’s pub.
Andrew Carl Yewdall admitted common assault and was also banned from entering licensed premises, and buying or being sold alcohol for nine months.
Two other charges, of common assault and disorderly behaviour on licensed premises, were withdrawn by the prosecution.
The designated official said that Yewdall had been extremely drunk so he had asked him to leave.
This had prompted Yewdall to become increasingly agitated and swear at the man.
Yewdall put his arm around the designated official who pushed him away and asked him to leave again.
Yewdall then said: ‘You can’t tell us what to do.’
The designated official then attempted to remove Yewdall from the pub, which resulted in Yewdall throwing a punch at him, but as he was so intoxicated it barely connected.
Police arrived and he was arrested.
The court heard that Yewdall, who lives at Lord Street, has a previous drink-related conviction in 2015.
Yewdall told probation that he had been taking medication for health issues on the night in question and he believed that mixing it with alcohol had caused him to have a ‘blackout’, as he had no memory of the offence.
The probation report said that he was currently working with Motiv8 and mental health services.
Yewdall was said in the report to be ‘perhaps minimising his issues with alcohol’.
He was said to be currently not working due to being signed off, but his job remained open to him and he hoped to return to it.
The report said that probation would not really be beneficial as Yewdall was already working with relevant services such as Motiv8 and mental health services.
Defence advocate Stephen Wood said that his client had no recollection of the incident but accepted that his punch had made contact, though the statement from the police had not said it had been a punch to the face.
Chair of the magistrates Julian Ashcroft told Yewdall: ‘When you are on licensed premises and the designated official asks you to leave they have every right to do so.
‘We know you were extremely drunk but that is no excuse.’
Magistrates also ordered Yewdall to pay £125 prosecution costs, which he will pay, along with the fine, at a rate of £10 per week deducted from benefits.