Court round-up (December 5-11)
Asa James Bibby
An Alford man who caused serious facial injuries with a single punch had been heavily provoked, a court heard.
Asa James Bibby, 46, could have been jailed for inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent. But magistrates at Boston last Wednesday (December 11)ordered the self-employed businessman to do 150 hours of unpaid work, and made no order for compensation after he pleaded guilty to the offence at a Mablethorpe pub on July 14.
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Hide AdProsecutor Nick Todd said: “It was one punch. There’s an allegation of provocation by [the complainant] which led to the one punch. Injuries sustained were multiple fractures to his face.”
Solicitor David Eager, in mitigation, said Bibby was enjoying an evening at the pub with his wife and friends.
“[The complainant] was coming over to the area to work and was with work colleagues. He was very drunk indeed and kept approaching Mr Bibby’s group making lewd and rude and inappropriate comments. At one point he touched one of the females in the groin area.
“Mr Bibby thought it best for them to leave. As they were leaving, [the complainant] approached them yet again.
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Hide Ad“[The complainant] then put the pint glass in his hand on the side and put his vaping cigarette in his back pocket, clearly ready to fight. Mr Bibby was not ready to fight.”
The victim then “offered Mr Bibby out” and stretched out his arms, effectively saying “come on”, said Mr Eager, who said the defendant then struck out.
“There was no immediate threat to Mr Bibby and it was wrong for him to hit him,” said Mr Eager, who urged the bench to consider his client’s previous good character, the level of provocation and the “sexual innuendo and sexual touching”.
“I don’t want him to be lumped in as a violent thug, I just want you to sentence him for what happened that evening,” he added.
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Hide AdMr Eager said the victim was “very much the author of his own misfortune”.
Bibby, who runs a Christmas shop in London and a summer shop in Skegness, was given a 12-month community order for the unpaid work and told to pay £90 victim surcharge and £85 costs.
Nicola Harvey
A South Reston driver who left the road, crashed through a fence and collided with a car parked on a driveway, was under the influence of alcohol, a court has heard.
Nicola Harvey, 38, of Main Road, admitted driving with excess alcohol when she appeared at Boston Magistrates Court’ last Wednesday (December 11).
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Hide AdProsecuting, Paul Wood said Miss Harvey left the road while driving her BMW car on Legbourne Road, Louth, at 1.40am on June 2.
He said she crashed through a fence and collided with a parked car on a private driveway and had to be taken to hospital.
Mr Wood said a blood sample was taken from her there and that gave a reading of 198 microgrammes of alcohol in her blood, the legal limit being 80.
Mitigating, Tony Davies said Miss Harvey was ‘normally very conscious of not drinking and driving’ and could not comprehend why she did not take a taxi on this occasion, as she usually did.
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Hide AdHe said she broke her neck in the collision and was hospitalised for five days.
Miss Harvey was banned from driving for 22 months but was offered the drink drivers’ rehabilitation course which will reduce the period of the ban by 22 weeks.
She was also ordered to pay a fine of £346 and court costs and charges totalling £119.
Victoria Heather Brown
A Mablethorpe woman has been banned from driving after she admitting driving while more than twice over the legal limit.
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Hide AdVictoria Heather Brown, 55, of Queen’s Park Close, committed the offence when she drove a Vauxhall Omega on her home street on November 11, while she had 94 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath in her system. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
Brown pleaded guilty to the offence when she appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on Thursday December 5.
She was ordered to pay a £120 fine, in addition to £85 in court costs and a £32 victim surcharge.
Brown was also handed a 24 month disqualification from driving, although this can be reduced by a period of 24 weeks if she chooses to complete a course.
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Hide AdThe defendant’s guilty plea was taken into account by the magistrates when imposing their sentence.
Gabriel McCree
A Donington on Bain man is due to be sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court after pleading guilty to several offences including drug possession, assaulting a woman, and being in possession of a machete in a public place.
Gabriel Patrick Michael McCree, 20, of Welsdale Road, admitted the three offences when he appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court last Monday (December 9).
All three offences took place on December 7.
The first offence states that McCree was in possession of a quantity of the Class B drug, cannabis, in Lincolnshire.
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Hide AdThe second offence states that McCree assaulted a woman in Louth.
The third and final offence states that McCree was in possession of a machete in a public place, in Louth, without good reason or lawful authority to do so.
The magistrates’ court determined that sentencing should take place at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court, at a date and time to be fixed.
The defendant’s guilty plea will be taken into account by the court when imposing its sentence.