A Wiltshire lout has been sentenced for headbutting a youth who refused to share his mobile phone's wifi hotspot during a bus journey.
Wayne Hobbs, 50, of Welcombe Avenue, Swindon, admitted an offence of assault by beating when he appeared at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 10th July 2024.
Assault by beating, an offence contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, has a maximum penalty of 26 weeks' custody on summary conviction.
Hobbs appeared the same court for sentencing on Wednesday, 14th August 2024.
I wrote about Hobbs' offence in an earlier article. In the briefest possible terms, he headbutted a 17-year-old youth, who was a total stranger, because he refused to share his wifi hotspot during a bus journey. As if that wasn't bad enough Hobbs also threatened the youth with further violence when he left the bus.
In a victim personal statement, the youth said: "This incident left me absolutely terrified and it affected my mental health because people like him will be on the bus and will assault absolutely anyone."
The court heard that Hobbs has 57 previous convictions, including several for offences against the person.
Gordon Hotson, mitigating, told the court that Hobbs previously drank to excess and had been drinking on the day of the offence. Hobbs mistakenly believed the youth he assaulted was an adult.
Mr Hotson added that Hobbs was proud of getting himself clean from drugs and was looking forward to being reunited with his own children.
"He has no explanation for why he behaved in that way after a bizarre conversation," Mr Hotson said.
Having considered the circumstances, Magistrates were of the opinion that Hobbs' offence crossed the community threshold.
He was made subject to an 18-month community order with the requirement that he completes up to 30 days' rehabilitation activity.
He was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation, which presumably was given priority over prosecution costs and surcharge.
This was a very nasty offence - a totally unprovoked attack on a youth, involving a headbutt (considered a weapon equivalent), when the offender was under the influence of drink and has extensive previous for similar offending.
On the face of things, there doesn't appear to be many factors in Hobbs' favour and he could well have landed in custody.
That being the case, I would suggest that the Bench has taken a pragmatic approach to sentencing.
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