Drunk thug spat at police officer when he was put in handcuffs at Leeds General Infirmary after breaking man's nose

Arturas Lefikas was taken to hospital after he received injuries as he carried out an unprovoked attack on a man at a house in Beeston.

Leeds Crown Court heard Lefikas assaulted on a man who lived at a shared house on Hird Street in the early hours of October 20 last year.

Lefikas, 33, did not live at the property but had been invited to the house by one of the other tenants who lived there.

The victim had been asleep but was woken at around 11pm by a group of men who were drinking.

He went to speak to the men but was attacked without warning by Lefikas who punched him three times to the head.

The victim then went outside but was followed by Lefikas who made threats to kill him.

Police were called and found both men outside with injuries.

The victim suffered a broken nose and Lefikas had a bruised eye and a cut lip.

The defendant was taken to hospital by police in the early hours of the morning.

Lefikas became aggressive at the hospital and was handcuffed by an officer.

The defendant fell asleep but then woke up and continued to be aggressive.

The officer tried to calm Lefikas down but he spat at him.

The spit landed on his clothing. Lefikas was arrested for a second time over the incident and claimed he had been provoked by the officer.

He said he could not remember assaulting the man at the house in Beeston.

Lefikas, of no fixed, address, was released on bail but failed to attend a court hearing in November and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assaulting an emergency worker and failing to attend court.

Lefikas has a previous conviction for robbery in Sweden, for which he served a three-year prison sentence

Probation officer Mick Berry said Lefikas accepted being violent towards the man at the house in Beeston when he was drunk.

Mr Berry said the defendant continued to refuse to apologise for spitting at the police officer.

Susannah Proctor, mitigating, said: "He says to me that he accepts that it was an inappropriate way to behave."

Ms Proctor said her client was a Lithuanian national who moved to live with his mother in the UK in 2017 for economic reasons.

Lefikas was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He must also do 200 hours of unpaid work and complete a 10-day rehabilitation programme.

Lefikas was also ordered to pay £100 to the police officer and £400 to the assault victim as compensation.

Judge Neil Clarke, mitigating, said: "It was a wanton assault for no purpose whatsoever and demonstrates that there is an ugly side to your character."