Man jailed for hitting an off-duty police officer who tried to break up a drunken fight in Kenilworth

When an off-duty policeman tried to break up a group of young men involved in a drunken fracas, one of them hit him with such force that he suffered a wound which needed six stitches.

A teenager involved in the incident near the officer’s Kenilworth home then kicked him, while another assaulted a female officer at the police station following their arrest.

As a result, all three appeared at Warwick Crown Court where Connor Ratcliffe (25) of Water Tower Lane, Kenilworth, was jailed for 12 months after pleading guilty to wounding and affray.

Connor Copsey (19) of Kew Close, Kenilworth, and Jake Simmons (18) of Lindisfarne Drive, Kenilworth, were given 18-month community orders with a rehabilitation activity and 120 hours of unpaid work.

They had both pleaded guilty to affray and possessing cannabis, while Copsey also admitted common assault and Simmons admitted common assault on an emergency worker and damaging a police car.

Prosecutor Philip Brunt said that at about 5pm on June 12 a woman became aware of a group of four young people, who appeared to be drunk, fighting near Finham Brook, so told neighbour Clive Baynton, who she knew was a police officer.

Mr Baynton, who was off-duty at the time, went out to speak to them, and was assured by the fourth young man, that everything was OK and that they would calm down, so he left.

But the disturbance continued, and when he returned to the scene he was told by the fourth man that the defendants were out of control.

So, telling them he was an off-duty officer, he asked them to leave and warned that the police would get involved if they did not go.

But Ratcliffe reacted by asking him if he wanted to ‘go for a swim,’ and pushed him into a bush before punching him to the side of the head, causing a wound which later needed six stitches.

A young woman who was present intervened by grabbing Ratcliffe by his hoodie and pulling him away.

Mr Baynton stayed on his feet, and Copsey then approached him and kicking him hard to the top of his leg, causing bruising.

And when another local resident also tried to intervene, he was sworn at and threatened by the three defendants.

The police arrived and arrested Ratcliffe and Copsey, but as Simmons was being arrested he continued to struggle and kicked out, damaging the light cluster of the police car.

And at the police station, as he was being taken to the cells, he kicked his leg out in an attempt to trip a female officer, said Mr Brunt.

William Douglas-Jones, for Copsey, said: “He is and was a young man who acted entirely wrongly and foolishly in drink when caught up with peer influences. He has no previous convictions.”

Nick Devine, for Simmons, argued: “Critically he was not involved in the worst of the incident, the assault on Mr Baynton. He was there and didn’t absent himself, but he played no direct role.

“His involvement began when others began to intercede, and when the police arrived he behaved in an entirely reprehensible manner. He has shown genuine remorse.”

And Graeme Simpson, for Ratcliffe, said: “He has had some quite significant emotional traumas this year, and that led to him abusing alcohol and also taking drugs.

“This is a man who has acted entirely out of character, and there is nothing to suggest his remorse is not genuine. He needs help, and that could put him on the right path.”

Sentencing the three, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano told Copsey and Simmons: “What you have done by committing this offence is to put your future in serious jeopardy.

“I am not going to send you to prison today, but these convictions will be on your record.”

But she told Ratcliffe: “What makes this really serious is that it was committed against a police officer.

“It may have been that he was off-duty, but he had presented himself to you as a police officer.

“If you attack a police officer in this way, the only proper sentence is one of immediate imprisonment.