A MAN has been given “one final chance” by a judge after committing an assault just weeks after being handed a suspended jail term for earlier offending.
Grant Stewart, 38, was spared immediate prison in June after he was involved in the burglary of a petrol station shop near Carlisle.
But, on the evening of July 6, Stewart got involved in a confrontation outside the Border Rambler bar on the city’s Botchergate. And, as he attempted to strike a man, he instead hit female bystander Nichelle Gibbons in the face, making contact with her cheek and knocking off her glasses. She was given ice and a towel by pub staff, and left “angry and upset”, Carlisle Crown Court heard this morning (MON).
Stewart, of Gilsland Road, Carlisle, admitted assaulting Miss Gibbons, from Workington, and breaching the suspended jail term.
Judge James Adkin heard Stewart was “thoroughly ashamed” of his conduct in July, having found work and pledged to “go straight” following the burglary.
Judge Adkin opted not to activate the suspended prison sentence. Instead he imposed a two-month Saturday and Sunday night curfew, ordering Stewart to also pay Miss Gibbons £200 compensation. “I am going to give you one final chance,” the judge told him.