Brown Ale bottle-carrying drunk who assaulted policewoman while banned from South Shields is jailed

Scott Atkinson, 35, is starting 12 weeks behind bars, including for the assault on his 75-year-old relative.

He hounded him for cash to buy alcohol and drugs by repeatedly attending his home in Jarrow, a court heard.

When his granddad threatened to call police on Sunday, April 24, Atkinson inflicted a hand injury by grabbing the phone – and damaged a door as he left.

And on Friday, May 13, he attacked a WPC after being spotted in South Shields against a court order to stay out of town.

Prosecutor Clare Irving told South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court: “At 9pm on April 23, the defendant asked for £20 and then went out.

“At 8.30am, he woke his step-grandfather and asked for another £20. He returned with alcohol.

“He went out and came back at 1.30pm and asked for another £20. His grandad told him he was going to call the police.

“He grabbed his grandad, and he grabbed the phone. His grandad picked up a second phone.

“The defendant has dodged across the room and grabbed the phone, causing injuries to his grandad’s hand.

“His grandad shouted out his address in the hope the police heard.”

Ms Irving said Atkinson attacked the policewoman near Spohr Terrace, close to South Shields Town Hall.

It came after a former girlfriend reported seeing him at Chichester Metro station, in breach of a restraining order banning him from entering South Shields.

She added: “It was at 8.45am. He didn’t see her or communicate with her. She called the police and didn’t see him again.

“A police officer saw him in Hutton Row, walking towards Spohr Terrace.

“He was asked to stop but didn’t but then did. He gave false details claiming he was ‘John Ingo’. He tried to walk away.

“He was holding a glass Newcastle Brown Ale bottle and was drunk. The officer caught up with him, but he struggled.

“He grabbed her by the waist, and ran towards a wheelie bin, and took hold of the bin.

“She thought she was at real risk and so used her PAVA spray to subdue him.”

Atkinson pleaded guilty to common assault, assaulting of an emergency worker, breaching a restraining order and criminal damage.

Charlton Carr, defending, said the money Atkinson demanded was from a £10,000 inheritance being kept safely for him.

He added: “He has significant alcohol and drugs problems. He has no recollection of being in South Shields, he thought he was in Gateshead.”

District Judge Paul Currer jailed Atkinson for eight weeks each for the WPC attack and restraining order breach, to run concurrently.

He jailed him for four weeks for the assault on his grandfather and two weeks for criminal damage.

The four-week term will run consecutively to the eight-week sentences, giving a total of 12 weeks’ jail.

Atkinson, of Hawks Road, Gateshead Quayside, must pay the WPC £100 compensation. There were no court costs.