A Wetherspoon’s pub was trashed by a customer following ‘months of tension’. Scott Harrison ‘saw red’ at the Navigation Inn in Kings Norton and threw glasses and bar stools at the manager Andrew York after being refused service.
CCTV captured the wild scenes as one of chairs hit the victim on the arm while a glass shattered against a wall with debris hitting a female member of staff. It came less than 18 months after the venue, which is over 180 years old, re-opened thanks to a £2.5m revamp.
Harrison erupted in anger after being accused of taking drugs on the premises, which he strongly denied shouting ‘prove it’. The 44-year-old bricklayer from Oakwood Road, Sparkhill was sentenced to a 14-month suspended sentence at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday after previously admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.
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He was also banned from visiting the pub under a restraining order despite having returned there on three occasions since the incident which unfolded around 9pm on April 10 this year.
Prosecutor Alison Scott-Jones told the court that Harrison initially appeared to accept the decision not to serve him but then said: “When he returned to the table where he had been sitting the defendant turned around and began to walk back towards Mr York shouting ‘prove it’.
“As he got nearer he lunged at him, grabbed him with both hands and pushed him against the wall. He had his hands around Mr York’s neck and was squeezing his throat. Mr York described struggling to breathe.”
She continued: “Mr York did manage to get behind the bar and press the panic button which automatically contacts the police. The defendant did walk away again before he was seen to pick up a glass and throw it with force at Mr York. It missed but smashed on a wall and struck another member of staff on the head. She found shattered glass in her hair.
“The defendant picked up a bar stool and threw it from overhead height towards Mr York. It missed him but hit a rack on the bar causing glasses to break. Then he threw a number of bar stools towards the bar aimed towards Mr York. One of them hit him on his upper arm. Eventually other customers intervened and managed to convince the defendant to leave before the police arrived.”
In a statement Mr York said he has found it hard to work at the Navigation Inn since, particularly because Harrison has been in whilst he was on shifts which ‘just brings me to remember to situation again’, he added.
It is not the first time the defendant has caused trouble in a pub after an ‘altercation’ in 2018 where he hurled a number of pint glasses at another customer who was forced to protect his own face with a chair, the court was told.
Tariq Khan, defending, argued Harrison was ‘extremely, extremely sorry’. He said: “This incident didn’t just occur out of the blue I’m afraid. There had been some tension brewing in the pub for two to three months in the way he was being viewed, quite incorrectly, by the victim in question and because of that tension that developed to the situation on the day in question.
“He actually was accused by the victim, falsely accusing him of doing drugs. It seems that’s what set all this off. That coupled with the fact he was refused service point blank, he saw red from that.”
He added: “There were others who were doing drugs but not him. He was very clear that in the past he had done drugs but had been off them for a while.”
Harrison’s sentence was suspended for two years and he was ordered to carry out 30 days rehabilitation activity, 50 hours of unpaid work as well as ordered to pay £100 compensation to the victim and £94.40 compensation to Wetherspoon’s for a light switch which was broken in the disorder.
Recorder Paul McGrath said: “What I’m really left with is considering whether there is a real prospect of rehabilitation. It seems overall there is. I take on board there has been a change in lifestyle to the defendant’s way of living. He has a partner, new responsibilities, he has been working off debt and there hasn’t been any repeat trouble since. Therefore I will give the defendant another chance.”
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
