Shirebrook teen fist bumped mates after strangling 16-year-old girl in Mansfield

Alex Skelding was sitting on a bench near the Four Seasons shopping centre when he exchanged “unpleasant words” with the girl at 2.30am on September 8.

Ashley Whitcher, prosecuting, said the defendant handed his drink to one of his friends and grabbed the girl around the throat with his right hand. He started squeezing so she struggled to breathe.

"After he released her, he fist bumped his mates and tried to make light of it, as if it was something to be found funny," he said.

"His victim was uninjured but she is now scared to go into Mansfield. This was not a fleeting incident. This is a girl who undoubtedly wants to socialise with her friends and now feels unable to do so."

The court heard Skelding was drunk when he brawled with a number of other males in Mansfield marketplace on January 6.

Pari Seeley, mitigating, said Skelding, who has no previous convictions, would most likely have received a referral order if he had been dealt with as a youth.

She said an equivalent sentence would be a community order, as recommended by the probation service, now he has turned 18.

"There is still a lot of growing up to do," he said. "He is genuinely contrite and has apologised."

She said Skelding, who lives at home and works as a welder, was shoved first before the fight broke out in the marketplace.

"He is very remorseful and understands he should have walked away," Ms Seeley added.

Skelding, aged 18, of Slant Lane, Shirebrook, admitted intentional strangulation and threatening behaviour when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on February 11.

Sentencing was adjourned for probation reports until Thursday when he received a 12 month community order, with rehabilitation activity days and 180 hours of unpaid work.

He was ordered to pay £150 compensation, a £114 surcharge and £85 costs.

The presiding magistrate told him it was only his age at the time of the offence and his previous good character which spared him from a prison sentence.