City nuisance banned from Trinity Leeds after savage assault in front of horrified shoppers

Michael Jones has been told to stay out of Leeds Trinity and Boar Lane by a judge at Leeds Crown Court after dishing out a savage assault on a man on electric bike that was caught on CCTV.

The footage was played to the court which showed the victim approach Jones on Boar Lane, near Trinity Church, where he was sat on the floor and surrounded by others.

The victim had known Jones for around 10 years, prosecutor Kristina Goodwin told the court. But they got into an argument after the victim admitted to taking £400 from one of Jones’ friends.

The 52-year-old then got up and pulled the man from his bike, and punched him to the face several times. He was also kicked in the head by several of the men with Jones.

When he regained his bearings, he saw one of the other men running off with his bike.

He got to his feet and went to the nearby McDonald’s where the police were called. He identified the suspect from a police line-up. Jones was also arrested on suspicion of robbery but denied it. He later admitted a charge of affray.

He has nine previous convictions for 12 offences. Mitigating, Tom Jackson said Jones, of Kingston Terrace, Woodhouse, now had stable accommodation and had no reason to go into the city centre. He said he was also tackling his drinking issues.

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Judge Kate Rayfield told Jones: “It must have been pretty frightening for people walking past. People just want to go to town and go shopping, without worrying about things like this.”

However, she was impressed by Jones’ attitude towards tackling his booze problems. She gave him a six-month sentence, suspended for 18 months. The exclusion order bans him from entering Trinity Leeds or Boar Lane for the next 12 moths. He was also given a 12-month alcohol treatment requirement and 30 rehabilitation days.