75ZT Community

I was chairing the remand court yesterday morning and during the briefing, my colleague explained the she and her husband had been on the town on Friday evening and had been witness to some disgraceful behaviour from an individual who seemed, not particularly drunk, but extremely belligerent as though spoiling for a fight. Jan's husband had to intervene when the guy got too close to their table and things started being knocked over. He received a mouthful of abuse for his trouble and Jan then became the target, along with one of her friends, of a stream of invective, mostly incoherent, but clearly of the vilest nature, before a doorman appeared and took the individual away. A shame when you can't go out on a Friday evening for a quiet drink and the company of friends.

By now you will have a good idea where this is going so I'll continue.

One of the cases called on was that of a man who had been charged with a public order offence, in addition to assault on a PC. He was deposited in the local Police cells to sleep it off prior to assessment once sober. He was brought to the custody suite desk and formally charged with a view to being released on bail, at which point, and with, apparently, no warning or provocation, he spat straight into the face of the custody Sergeant saying, "guess you'll need to check up on my medical history now. You won't like what you find out."

He was then held in custody by the Police for the remand court.

Perhaps my colleague had been right in her assertion that the man she had seen didn't appear very drunk the previous evening as this individual immediately recognised her from the dock, whereupon he chose to rant about a conspiracy involving the club management, security staff, Police and Judiciary.

Clearly my colleague had no choice but to recuse herself from the case having seen his behaviour of the previous evening which was no real problem as I am able to deal with bail hearings as a Magistrate sitting alone.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to all charges, much to the disgust of the duty solicitor, who then informed me that the defendant required the attendance, at trial, of my colleague, as a witness for the defence, having accused her, not ten minutes earlier as part of the conspiracy against him.

Not content with that, the defendant got to his feet in the dock and stated that he'd "be round to see" Jan and made non specific threats towards any Police officer who got in his way.

He was still ranting as I remanded him in custody and he was taken down the steps.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Curious, as you say. A very fortunate set of circumstances leading to his remand though. The bloke obviously has some serious mental issues so perhaps several years in a loony bin might be just what he needs, not to mention what the public needs to keep safe from such a person.

The poor unfortunate defendant seems desirous of attracting the most severe penalty possible under these circumstances (threats from the dock are hardly mitigating and rarely show one’s better side), the evidence apparently showing that the usual defence of being off his face mercifully does not apply as his recognition of a member of the bench bears witness to his mental alertness, if not acuity, at both the proximity to the time of the offence followed by a creditably rapid appearance in court.

To him it probably also means the severity of the offence is irrelevant, as the kudos of the most severe penalty is the more creditable, and lends support to his rant that society, polite or otherwise, is out to get him.

As there is no apparent mental illness (consider his helpful advice, and generous acknowledgement of the officer’s rights, to the custody officer regarding health precautions) I personally see no reason to disappoint him.