Worksop boozer belted taxi driver in Mansfield

A boozed-up Worksop thug who lashed out at a taxi-driver in Mansfield when he thought he was being laughed at, was given a final chance by a judge.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.Mansfield Magistrates Court.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.

Eifion Watson punched the driver through his car window in the Wilkos car park, on Clumber Street, after he refused to take him back to Worksop, on April 3.

He had been out drinking with his dad and brother and told police he was ten out of ten on a scale of drunkeness, after downing lager and vodka, said Ruth Snodin, prosecuting.

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“He said he had no idea why he punched the taxi driver,” she said.

“I have known Mr Watson a long time and he is well-known in Worksop for this type of offending.

“He does have potential, but does seem to blow it when alcohol comes on the scene. He has an extensive record.”

Watson, 22, of Stilwell Gardens, admitted common assault and breaching a criminal behaviour when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Thursday.

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The court heard Watson had been banned from every pub in Worksop, in December 2015, Yates, but he breached the criminal behaviour order on February 19, this year, when he was spotted going into Yates’s, on Victoria Square.

He told police that he played for the pub team and wanted to attend a presentation there.

David Verity, mitigating, said: “He had too much to drink, that’s not a normal situation for him now. He is full of remorse.

“Against a background of doing so well he is disappointed that he has blotted his copybook.”

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He said Watson had one 14-month-old child and expected a second in July.

District judge Andrew Meachin told him: “In your drunken state you turn up and thump a driver in the face. Drunkeness is not an excuse.

“You’re on a knife edge now. You have a young child on the way and a young lady looking after you. You will be letting them down.

“This is absolutely your final chance.”

He gave Watson 18 weeks, suspended for 12 months, for the assault, and six weeks, also suspended, for the breach.

Watson must carrry out 100 hours of unpaid work, 22 days of rehabilitation, and was ordered to pay £100 compensation to the driver and £85 costs.

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