'Hideous' topless drunk attacked landlord with frying pan in Wakefield flat-confusion row
A thug who was “blackout drunk” tried to force his way into a woman’s flat, then confronted the owner of neighbouring property, lunging at him with a knife then a frying pan.
Bradley Carrington “completely lost it” when he claimed he lived at the flat in Ryhill, but the terrified woman was able to shut the door on him when he tried to barge through.
He then attacked the builder in the flat next door that was being renovated, and when the landlord arrived, he grabbed the weapons and also set about him.
The 31-year-old admitted Section 20 GBH without intent and ABH, with the judge at Leeds Crown Court describing it as “unfathomable, hideous drunken behaviour”.
The court was told that between 10pm and 11pm on July 16, Carrington began to bang on the door of the first flat on Mill Lane.
When the woman answered, he told her: “I live here, who the f*** are you?”
She shut the door on him when he tried to enter.
Minutes later he managed to get into the flat next door that was being decorated, prosecutor Oishee Dey told the court.
The owner arrived shortly afterwards and saw the builder, who had been in the flat, was bleeding from his head.
Topless Carrington asked where the landlord was from before picking up a kitchen knife.
The man was able to grab Carrington’s hand to protect himself, but the defendant then picked up an iron frying pan and struck him with it before punching him, causing him to fall to the floor.
The police were called and they arrived to find the landlord with a gash to his head that was cut down to the bone.
Still topless, Carrington was found outside the building and arrested.
He was interviewed the next day and told officers he had met a friend and had been drinking, having six pints of lager and a small bottle of whisky but could remember what happened.
He said he thought his friend lived in the flat.
Carrington, of Grove Lane, Hemsworth, later told a probation officer that he was in fact “blackout drunk”.
The court heard that he was self employed as a groundworker and had a partner and a young baby. He also admitted to struggling with binge drinking and was now attending counselling meetings. He has been sober for two months.
Mitigating, Jayne Beckett said: “The defendant had clearly drunk an awful lot. When he is not drinking, he is an impeccable father.
“He can’t explain what happened. I can’t improve on the fact he can’t remember.
“It’s appalling and serious but it’s incredibly random. He completely lost it.”
Judge Simon Batiste gave him a 15-month jail sentence, but opted to suspend it for two years. He ordered him to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, a six-month alcohol-treatment requirement, a four-month alcohol-abstinence requirement and 10 rehabilitation days with probation.
He told Carrington: “You have come remarkably close to going to prison today. The circumstances [of his actions] are quite frankly difficult to understand.
“It appears you got yourself in a remarkable state of drunkenness. It was unfathomable, hideous drunken behaviour.”
He said that his decision to pass a suspended sentence was swayed by Carrington’s decision to seek help for his drinking.