A Swindon man who discharged a "legal" criminal identifier spray at bouncers has again illustrated the perils of drinking on an empty head.
Karl Taylor, 32, of Ferndale Road, Swindon, admitted three offences of assault by beating when he appeared at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Monday, 7th October 2024.
Assault by beating is an offence under section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. It has a maximum sentence of 26 weeks' custody and/or an unlimited fine. You can read more about this particular offence in my earlier article on the topic.
Taylor, who hails from Cumbria, was ejected from a Carlisle bar for poor behaviour. Taking umbrage at the three bouncers, he proceeded to spray them in the face with a "legal" criminal identifier spray.
The trio were left with red staining to their skin and clothing, with one of them experiencing eye irritation when the red gloop struck him in the face.
If you please indulge me, I am now going to delve into the realms of personal opinion. If that's an issue, you might like to stop reading now.
I've been waiting to talk about this criminal identifier spray, Farb Gel, for a long time and now seems the ideal opportunity. The spray is marketed as a self-defence product and no doubt a considerable number of people buying it do so for that very purpose.
However, in my opinion a significant minority of those buying it do so to "look hard" and "get one over" the authorities by carrying around what appears, at first glance, to be a weapon.
I base that opinion on the knowledge that several social media auditors, including those supposedly learned in the law, routinely carry this spray as a prop to wave around whenever anyone challenges them. If you aren't familiar with the banal craze of social media auditing, then you might like to read my earlier thoughts on it.
By marketing this product as "legal in the UK" and an "alternative to pepper spray", the manufacturers do a disservice to members of the second category, some of whom are of the mistaken belief it can be used with legal impunity. That is certainly not the case.
The bouncers ejecting Taylor from the Carlisle bar were well within their rights to do so, using lawful physical force as the need arose. That being the case, he had no legal justification at all to spray them with Farb Gel. What possible reason could he have for marking them with a criminal identifier spray, when he knew their place of work?
District Judge Joanna Dickens was of the view that his offences were serious enough to merit a community order.
He was made subject to a 15-month community order, with the requirement that he completes 6-months' alcohol treatment, 12 days' mental health treatment and up to 15 days' rehabilitation activity.
He was also ordered to pay the statutory surcharge of £114.
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