Sponsored by
Ripon soldier headbutted reflection in Harrogate
A soldier due to return to Iraq headbutted his own reflection when stress and apprehension got the better of him.
Harrogate magistrates heard how Lee Thomas had been walking alone in North Street, Ripon, on April 5, the day before he was due to return to Iraq where he drove Challenger tanks.
Prosecutor Haroon Patel said Thomas, 20, had cut his forehead when he smashed a window at Castle Reproductions. Blood on glass fragments sent for DNA analysis led police to him.
He told officers he had an argument with his parents and while out walking saw a reflection of himself and headbutted the window.
Thomas, of Princess Road, Ripon, pleaded guilty to criminal damage. His solicitor Peter Olley said his client had been in the Army for two years and had been due to return to Iraq after two weeks on leave, but was apprehensive about going back.
Thomas was fined 100 with 200 compensation, 45 costs and a 15 victims' surcharge for his ''impulsive action'' court chairman Brian Pattyson told him: ''I would have thought given your profession there are lots of other ways you are going to get injured rather than headbutting a window."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
